Beautiful Disaster
by AvalonBay
Summary: [Sequel to Pretty Lady]. "I can fix this, I need you to trust me." Kendall glared at him, "Like I trusted you last time?" Heckyl's a good guy now; he split from Snide and he's his own person. Convincing Kendall and the rest of the rangers is an adventure in its own, adding in the appearance of the Aqua Ranger and Snide's revenge plan the rangers are facing a beautiful disaster.
1. Prologue

**Beautiful Disaster**

 **Full Summary** \- [Sequel to Pretty Lady]. Heckyl's a good guy now; he managed to split from Snide and he's his own person. Convincing Kendall and the rest of the rangers is an adventure in its own, adding in the appearance of the Aqua Ranger and Snide's revenge plan the rangers are facing a beautiful disaster.

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

Kendall clutched her hands tighter around her steaming mug of coffee. Stretching out her legs she dug deeper under the blanket tucked in tight enough to keep her on the couch. She didn't want to move or do anything that would remind her of the Dino Bite Café or Heckyl or…or…

 _Stop it, Kendall._ She shook her head as thoughts of Heckyl's piercing blue eyes and smirk entered her head. More than that, the way he called her 'Pretty Lady', the way he had saved her, the way he had held her…Again Kendall had to mentally yell at herself to stop it. It was so wrong. He was the one they had been fighting against for so long, the one who tried to destroy her and her friends.

The one who had lied to her.

Closing her eyes, Kendall tilted her head back and rested it on the pillow that gently rested on the arm of her couch. She had never been one who stuck her head in the sand when setbacks happened, she worked harder. The first time she allowed herself to open up, to be vulnerable, to think that she could find someone special it had blown up in her face once more.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kendall made a promise to herself then and there.

She was going to ignore Heckyl and everything that happened. Ignore it to focus on what was more important. The missing energems and the team becoming as strong as they could together. To save the world. That was the most important thing.

Not her non-existent love life. She wasn't going to make that mistake again.

* * *

Heckyl tugged on the chain that held his pocket watch and cradled it in his hand. He took a breath and steeled himself, as he always did right before, and popped it open with his thumb. Then he sighed in relief.

Nothing.

There was still nothing there.

Snide was still gone and he was still Heckyl. He was still himself. If he even knew what it was like to be himself. He had been a part of Snide and Snide a part of himself for so long he wasn't sure he knew who he was anymore. There were no memories of his childhood, nothing happy, nothing but the darkness and destruction he created when taken over by his other half. Now he was full, the evil darkness was gone, and he could sleep easily.

Except for that one big thing. Kendall and the others. How they were power rangers, how he was the only one that knew their secret. As Heckyl was healing he went back to the Dino Bite Café to explain to the other rangers what was going on, to tell them everything he had told Kendall but they didn't give him the chance. He tried to apologize and they stonewalled him. They yelled at him, reminded him of everything he had done against them.

That was okay, he expected it. Koda had tried to talk to him a little but he was quickly rebuffed by his teammates and he simply looked at him and at the ground whenever they were near each other. Kendall had regarded him coldly, saying he had to leave the café and stop coming back. Then he reminded her he was the only one who knew their secret and could keep the café open as well as make excuses if any of them had to leave to protect the city.

Kendall stared at him for a long time before letting out a low sigh and uttering, "Fine." Then she stood up straight and looked him in the eye. "But don't expect any favors around here. You're here to work, we're not thanking you for what you've done."

"I understand," Heckyl replied.

The words 'Pretty Lady' stuck on his lips and he almost said them. But the way she swiftly turned away and went back to her office warned him it was a bad idea.

Now he sat in a nearby bookstore, waiting to go to his shift, wondering how long his life would continue to resemble normality. Snide wasn't someone who let things go so easily and this betrayal…being able to split apart and work on his own terms….Snide was going to get revenge in some way. Deep in his bones he could feel it.

He just needed to convince the others in enough time to help them.

And, maybe, convince Kendall he wasn't as bad as she thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I have this planned as Heckyl/Kendall story but I'm sliiiightly leaning towards a Chase/Kendall/Heckyl thing as well. We'll see what happens. Sorry for the wait on the sequel, but I hope you guys are excited for it.

 **~Avalon**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Unlike the last story which was episodic based (from the first episode of Dino Super Charge) this one is more of my own plot. It goes more into Kendall's thoughts and some of her background. Mostly because I don't usually have romance as a main plot for my stories compared to the ranger adventures.

Thanks to Deep Blue Sea, ZRyder, and Rhythm Wolf for reviewing.

 _Deep Blue Sea:_ Good to be back, I just needed to figure some things out before posting.

 _ZRyder:_ Thank you! We'll see how things work out considering the potential triangle.

 _Rhythm Wolf:_ Thank you, good to be back! Just because I haven't had Ivan say anything to Heckyl about what happened with Fury yet doesn't mean it won't happen. ;)

* * *

 **01**

* * *

Kendall wondered if it was possible to go crazy when there really wasn't anything wrong. Or maybe she was starting to become a bit neurotic. Everything was getting on her nerves that day, even her very quick commute to the museum bothered her.

Walking into her office that day she dropped down into her office chair and let out a low sigh, resting her fingertips against her forehead. She took a deep breath, trying to lower her blood pressure, trying to lower her irritation. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, hadn't had been getting a lot of sleep lately and knew that certainly had something to do with it. But how could she sleep when there were Energems that needed to be found?

Things were starting to get very hectic lately and with the constant onslaught of monsters being sent out day after day after day, the rangers were starting to become tired and rundown. They all deserved some time off but at what cost? The one time they decided to go to a nearby city, maybe even just going to the beach was dangerous. Kendall couldn't remember the last time she had visited her family; when would she have had the time?

With starting college at sixteen and now having her PHD she was too busy with schoolwork and research to even think about taking a break. Then she was hired almost immediately to work at the Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum and had to move away. How long had it been? Almost five years? Maybe more? Time had passed so quickly for her. There weren't many friends she could go back and visit either, having received their Bachelor degrees and starting professional work; even though she had met in grad school had been harder to become friends with. They were so much older than her, able to do more things.

Loneliness was something she had gotten used to. Even when she wasn't actually alone there were times when she found herself wondering what her life would've been like if she were 'normal'. Then becoming a part of the power rangers team was her normal and there was nothing else she needed more than to help protect the city.

 _Just get through another day and it's the weekend and you'll have more time to yourself,_ Kendall reminded herself. _More time to relax and not worry so much._ She shook her head and started to rifle through the papers on her desk; bills, charges, and more bills. How many times did she have to tell Koda that he couldn't play with the items in the exhibit? And some research grants.

That made her smile. Nothing was better than being able to receive new items for the museum and to be able to have new areas of research. It was thrilling. Of course, nothing was more thrilling than finding a new Energem but at least something in her life was constant. Still, if there were more things to be discovered she wasn't complaining where any of it came from.

There was a loud crashing sound that came from the direction of the Dino Bite Café that nearly made her jump out of her skin.

 _Of course I could complain about not having a single day of peace and quiet,_ Kendall thought. Hastily, she pushed back her seat and hurried from her office towards the source of the sound. She maneuvered down the twisting and turning hallways until she came across the café. It was quiet, there didn't seem to be anyone around besides the cleaning staff. Still, she was sure she heard something.

Kendall decided to investigate in the kitchen then stopped in the doorway, staring down at Heckyl as he knelt on the floor, quickly picking up spilled heads of lettuce and tomatoes that started to roll away. He worked quickly, diligently to pick them up until Kendall cleared her throat, causing her to quickly turn around to face her. He gave a small smile, motioning towards the spilled produce.

"I guess I must've tripped over something in my haste," he explained. "I didn't mean to drop everything."

"I thought you were only coming in when you were scheduled to work," Kendall said in response. Her fingers tightened around the doorway, pressing the pads of her fingertips into the wood, almost as if she was trying to hold herself upright.

"I am scheduled to work today, Ms. Morgan," Heckyl replied. He stood up, dropping the produce into the sink with a low thud. "I understand I was to man the grill today but as I am here early I didn't think it would be so bad to help unload the food once it had been delivered." He dusted his hands off on his apron. "Again, I'm sorry about dropping them all."

"Heckyl…" Kendall took a deep breath. "I expect you to follow all directions that are given of you. You're to work the grill; I have other people to do the deliveries, that's their job."

"I suppose I've been a little distracted," Heckyl commented. He focused on washing the lettuce and tomatoes, avoiding Kendall's gaze. Or maybe he could sense her displeasure and didn't want to make things worse? "What with not knowing whether or not Snide truly is gone."

Kendall's breath caught in her throat. This was an important conversation to have. Now that Snide was gone—if he truly was—and Heckyl was the only one left who knew whether or not the rangers were done with their duties or if Fury was still out there or even Sledge, this would be the best way to know.

"You think Snide could come back?" Kendall asked. She tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

"As far as I can tell. I haven't had a sense of his presence nor has he appeared within my pocket watch. That's where we would go, where we could communicate." Heckyl brought his hand up to the side of his neck where an aqua blue marking sat. "I haven't felt anything in a long while. I truly believe he's gone."

"And if he's not?"

"Then I'll find some way to take him down. I deserve my freedom." He lifted his eyes and looked over at her. "Even if others don't think so." He cleared his throat and pushed away from the sink, drying his hands off on his apron. "I'll just go do my duties as you see fit My Lady."

Kendall's breath caught in her throat.

"I'm sorry…Ms. Morgan."

Heckyl left the back room and walked out into the kitchen area, starting up the grill. Kendall sighed and looked at her watch. There was only about an hour before the café opened; the mornings weren't usually so busy but there were always young mothers with their children who came in. It was enough to keep them afloat before the lunch rush and late afternoon crowd. Not mention it could get busy with the teen crowd, something about the museum kept them coming and the Dino Bite was their top hangout spot.

Kendall nodded and turned on her heel, leaving the kitchen. This was an agreement they all decided upon; that Heckyl was to work there to help keep their secret. It took a while for her to convince the ranges it was the best move to be made. He could keep an eye on the café and they could keep an eye on him.

Tyler, Shelby, Chase, and Riley had done their absolute best to let her know their grievances. Koda looked back and forth between the two with a bit of a confused expression on his face. (Kendall wasn't entirely sure he understood that Heckyl and Snide were one and the same). Ivan's response was the one that worried her the most. He didn't say anything. As a matter of fact it was as if he was trying to ignore what was going on. But Kendall continued to watch him; Ivan would speak to Heckyl when their jobs allowed it but wouldn't particularly pay him any other attention.

Tensions were high whenever Heckyl was around the group; it was why he decided to regulate himself with kitchen and stock room duty. Just so he was out of the way and had time to himself, not having to worry about the glares and suspicious glances coming his way. It hadn't been so long that he managed to split from Snide but the wounds were still fresh for all of them.

Kendall walked out into the main floor as the rangers trooped in for their duties for the day. They got right to work; going over the chart that held their cleaning duties and started out. Kendall hesitated for a moment then walked over to Ivan, who was starting to wipe down the counters.

He looked up and gave her a brilliant smile as she approached. "Ah, Ms. Morgan, t'is a wonderful day isn't it?"

"For you, maybe," Shelby said. She walked by with a plate of dishes meant to be set out for quick access when starting to cook. "I overslept and had to rush all the way here." She gestured towards a large stain on her pink t-shirt. "And it shows."

"I still think you look great," Tyler commented, passing by on the other side. Shelby smiled, ducking her head so that no one could notice the darkening of her cheeks.

Kendall managed a small smile. They were able to act normally, why couldn't she? So what if things weren't progressing the way they had anticipated; but at least one of the bigger threats they had wasn't a threat anymore. She turned her attention to Ivan and looked at him seriously, "When you get the chance could I speak to you in my office?"

"Is something wrong, Ms. Morgan?" Ivan asked. His dark eyes were filled with curious concern. Nevertheless his smile remained.

"No, there's just something I need to discuss with you." Kendall then turned her attention to the rest of the rangers. "Keep up the good work, guys. Our numbers have been going up. Soon we'll be able to start some new research along the museum."

"Like a new archaeological dig?" Shelby asked, eyes lighting up. "If so, can I please go? I promise I won't get in the way. And I'll be so quiet you won't even know I'm there."

"Somehow I doubt that," Kendall replied with a light smile.

Koda slowly raised his hand, eyes wide in wonder. He only spoke when Kendall turned to address him. "New restaurant for…more food?" He asked.

"Yeah, and more work for the rest of us," Tyler said. He reached out and ruffled Koda's hair, laughing at the complacent shrug Koda gave in response.

"If it isn't a matter of urgent importance I shall be in your office as soon as I am done with my cleaning duties," Ivan said to Kendall. He gave a regal bow of support. Kendall rolled her eyes and turned away, just as Chase came flying through the front door of the café. She jumped backwards to keep from colliding into him and Chase turned away at the same time, crashing into Riley who carried an armful of dishes.

The group all winced as the dishes crashed to the ground, instantly shattering. "Oh, good grief," Kendall exclaimed while Tyler, Shelby, and Riley immediately turned on the black ranger. "Chase, how many times do I have to tell you to stop skateboarding in the museum?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Morgan, I really am," Chase apologized. He popped up his skateboard with a stamp of his foot on one end and caught it in his hand. The kiwi bird that festooned the bottom glinted in the light from the hanging fixtures.

"What about me?" Riley demanded.

Chase ignored him, turning back to Kendall with pleading eyes. "But you told me I couldn't be late anymore and I was running late this morning. So I figured that skating here would be much faster. You know how I am on my board. I wanted to make it on time."

"Yes, well, those dishes are coming out of your paycheck," Kendall replied, pointing to the shattered pieces that Koda started to pick up by hand. "Koda, use a broom!"

The blue ranger smiled happily towards her. "Skin on hands as thick as feet. I'll be okay."

Kendall sighed and rubbed her forehead. But she couldn't help but join in on the laughter of the other rangers. Koda was just so easy to love and his views of the modern world could be quite endearing sometimes. At least he was working as hard as the others. Being a caveman in the twenty-first century had to be really hard.

"Please, just…make sure you don't break anything else. We've already got a lot of bills coming in for pieces in the museum being damaged. I don't want small things from here to add onto it." Kendall turned on her heel and went back to her office.

She immersed herself in her work; paying off bills, balancing the museum's appending account, responding to grants with information of what they would be researching and the different pieces to be added to the museum. Then with enough time to space she tidied up her office a little bit more. She was starting to decide on the pictures she wanted to put up when there was a quiet knock on her door.

"It's open," she called.

The door opened and Ivan slowly stuck his head in before emerging from behind the door. He came inside and closed the door behind him before clasping his hands together behind his back. With his shoulders dropped and raised chin he looked as regal as ever. Despite also being from another point in time he seemed to have been adjusting to the modern world a bit quicker than Koda was.

 _But then again, Kendall, Koda was never trapped within Fury's body. So he had more time to see how the world worked when taking on the rangers, watching our every move…_

"You wanted to speak to me, Ms. Morgan?" He asked.

"Yes, I wanted to ask you a few things." Kendall sat down at her desk once more. She pulled herself forward and rested her arms on the table top, tapping her purple painted fingernails. "I wanted to ask you a few things about Heckyl." She watched Ivan's face, looking for some sort of reaction.

There was a light flicker of a sort of fire in his eyes but otherwise his facial expression didn't change. He looked pleasantly curious and waited for Kendall to explain.

"Yes, what is it about Heckyl?"

"How are you and the other rangers dealing with him being around?" Kendall pushed her glasses up her nose and sat up straight. "I don't need hemming or hawing about this, Ivan, I need the truth."

"Then the truth is that it is difficult for us to be normal with him around. I believe there's still the chance he could betray us like some of the other scoundrels I've come across with my time on Zandar. He was a part of Snide and had tried to destroy us many times over. I'm afraid I'm not sure what to think other than that I wonder what your thoughts were in terms of allowing him to work so closely with us." He tilted his head. "Maybe they were a bit…personal?"

Kendall willed herself not to blush under Ivan's intense gaze. It took her a while to get the rangers off of demanding to know what was going on between her and Heckyl. (It didn't help that Koda continued to call her a 'princess' or Ivan mentioning her 'crush'. Though those phrases had somberly quit once Heckyl's explanation had come to light). He tried to destroy them, tried to capture them, tried to take their Energems…He had explained it was all because Snide was the evil one and he was an outlaw who was taken away from his home.

But as much as he was himself, he was also Snide and it was hard to separate from that completely. Especially when having willingly done some of the attacks. Still the questions from the rangers remained; they had seen how concerned Kendall was over him in their fight against Snide. So she allowed her personal feelings to get in the way of their goals once. It wasn't going to happen again.

Now they all walked on egg shells around Heckyl just in case.

 _But eventually something's got to give,_ Kendall thought.

"I told you before, it's to keep an eye on him," Kendall said sternly. "We have the base this close to the museum; if there is any chance Heckyl will turn back into Snide we will have him in our captivity. Maybe even be able to use him against Fury and Sledge. Find a way to keep them at bay while we figure out a way to get the rest of the Energems. The possibilities are endless."

"Yes, but is it all that safe? What if he has no choice but to turn back into Snide and he us down when our backs are turned?" Ivan pointed out.

"I won't let that happen."

Ivan looked at her for a long moment. "Then I believe under your decision Ms. Morgan that we should give Heckyl the chance you're giving him. And if there's a time that he does betray us like the scoundrel he has the ability to be then we should give him just punishment of flogging and banishment."

Kendall laughed to herself. Ivan's instances of his past on Zandar was always so entertaining, especially when he became very incensed about it.

Still, he was right.

She was taking a big risk with letting Heckyl stay around them. But there was truth in the term keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

She just wasn't sure where Heckyl fell within that spectrum.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading guys, let me know what you think of the chapter. Also if you've got any suggestions for the story I'm always open to them. Or if you want just want to talk I'm open for that, too.

 **~Avalon**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who has favorite and alerted. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I plan to have chapters go back and for the between Kendall and Heckyl, but let me know how it affects pacing. If it starts to move too slowly then I'll probably just do both POVs in one chapter rather than alternative chapters.

Thanks to **Sir Perfluous, Deep Blue Sea, and Rhythm Wolf** for reviewing.

 _Sir Perfluous:_ Ivan always strikes me as interesting due to his past on Zandar and how that is related to the new modern world. So I tend to have a lot of fun of making him sound as regal as I can and in terms of the rangers Ivan does seem to be a bit of a bodyguard as well as eager to learn about the modern world. But as I've said to another reviewer he has a past with Fury that I feel adds to some of it as well. Yeah, Kendall's going to be going through a lot but I hope readers see the depth I'm trying to give her throughout it.

 _Deep Blue Sea:_ Thank you so much! Yes, she's going to be going through a lot in this one. Mostly I feel to make up for her lack of centric episodes or a character driven plot throughout the show. Kendall is a really interesting character to me and I'm sad that she seems to be sidelined a lot throughout the show, even when in battle (though that may be due to footage that the show has from Japan).

 _Rhythm Wolf:_ It certainly won't take very long. It'd be hard to work with someone that used to try to destroy them and not be suspicious of his motives in general. Though I'm trying not to make this one too angsty in that aspect in light of moving the story plot forward.

* * *

 **02**

* * *

Heckyl, with his hands plunged in dirty, soapy water, couldn't ignore the fact he was banished. As banished as one could be when they were useful as well. Not only banished to the back of the kitchen but banished from all interaction throughout the café. Everyone else was front and center to interacting with patrons and each other. Even Chase and Ivan, who were working the grill that day were able to see the others through the little window allowed to pass food and orders back and forth.

Everyone else was working as a waiter, giving them a chance to see whoever decided to stop in that day whilst out in the museum. And there he was in the very back of the restaurant scraping the caked-on, congealed, and all around disgusting stuff that had managed to be stuck to the dishes and silverware. The great offender was the cake-like deserts. Even as Heckyl cleared them off he couldn't help but cur his lips at the sugary sweet aroma.

Sweets were never one of his favorite things and being on a planet where there was an abundance of sugar in just about every piece of food didn't help much. Still, he was glad there was something he could do to bide his time while he tried to figure out a way to get home. If his home was still in existence. He didn't remember much of it as it was. He didn't remember much of what his past life was before darkness took everything over.

Then he knew nothing but wanting to destroy everything in his path and show his power as he went. Of course most of it was due to Snide as well; he took over Heckyl's body numerous times to cause as much destruction as possible. And it was the same tactic that had been used to try and take down the rangers last time.

 _Which of course didn't work,_ Heckyl reminded himself. _But at least it's allowed me to be my own person again._ Not that that didn't come with its own troubles. No matter where he went through the Dino Bite café he was stared at or even followed, glared at suspiciously.

At point earlier that day he had been carrying a large stack of dishes from a rack to the sink and he looked over to find Riley standing on the other side of the room; having come back to look for a larger glass and watched as Heckyl continued to move about, as if waiting to use his Dino Charge Morpher as a blaster against him.

Then there were the times where a monster or the Vivix would be sent out and the rangers would go racing out into the field leaving Heckyl to deal with closing the café or else they would watch to make sure he didn't follow them into their base. Or at least that was his own suspicions from the way they continued to look at each other.

He certainly didn't blame them at all. But how was he able to prove he was done with the whole thing when he wasn't given the chance? Not that threatening to kill or blow up the rangers time and time again was supposed to make things easy on his part.

"How are things going back here?" Kendall asked, walking through the kitchen with her head bent over a clipboard. "We have a lot of field trips and groups scheduled to come in and we need to make sure that everything is ready to go."

"I'm cleaning as many dishes as I can," Heckyl explained. He brought up his arm and wiped it across his forehead. "I'd have more of it done if I had some help. But I don't think that'll come easily. Especially considering there's a pretty good chance that you're going to be running out to stop some sort of creature that Fury or Sledge has sent down."

Kendall stopped in her tracks and looked directly at him, eyes narrowing. "Why? Do you know something I don't?"

"Just that these things seems to happen on a schedule and there's been some sort of a disturbance every day this week so far." A sudden pain shot through Heckyl's neck and he immediately reached his hand up to the blue marking, closing his eyes. Was it happening again? Was Snide back? No. Just a twinge in his neck. He had been working so long, bent over the sink that it was starting to take a toll on his body.

That certainly was something that he took advantage of when Snide was part of his existence. He was stronger and his pain was practically non-existent when changing back and forth.

A relieved sigh escaped his lips and he brought his hand down from his neck, grimacing when he realized that a piece of mushy fish had been stuck to the glove and he had just smeared it along his neck. "I could practically set my watch it to," Heckyl continued. He reached to the side and picked up his pocket watch as it rested against his leg.

"No! You don't need to do that!" Kendall cried as soon as he moved to do so.

Startled, Heckyl dropped his watch. "Snide isn't in there anymore, it's not like it's going to release him or anything." He started to say something else but stopped when the doors to the kitchen flew open and the rangers poured in; Riley and Tyler with their Dino Morphers drawn and pointing directly at Heckyl.

"What's going on?" Riley asked.

"We heard your shouting, is everything alright?" Chase added.

Kendall, who appeared stunned by the sudden interruption, blinked over at her friends. Her lips pursed, almost as if she wanted to say 'Oh good grief' but couldn't find the words. Shelby then stepped to the front of the group and glared right at Heckyl.

"Don't worry, Ms. Morgan. We're not going to let him get away with it," she said. Then the pink ranger faltered for a moment, her eyes shifting back and forth for a minute. "Whatever it is that you're planning."

"Yes, I shall keep this scoundrel from getting away!" Ivan added.

Heckyl's glance shifted towards the ceiling. This would've been a lot funnier if it hadn't happened so much. Being in a place where he wasn't wanted was easier to deal with when those that didn't want him around were afraid of being destroyed rather than threatening _him_ with his demise.

Quietly Heckyl reached behind him and started to pull off his apron. "I'm not trying to do anything other than clock out of my shift," he said. He set his apron aside and walked across the kitchen to the back wall where he would punch out. Then he left out the backdoor, all with the rangers watching as he did so.

As soon as he was outside Heckyl breathed a huge sigh. Not a sigh of relief or a sigh of frustration, but a sigh. Anything to prove that he certainly was still alive. All of this stress was starting to take its toll. Not because of being in a place where he clearly wasn't wanted, but because once again he had to find a place to go. When taken over by Sledge he at least lived on the spaceship, while on Earth, his own person, he didn't have enough money to live anywhere else. Essentially homeless he continued to find bus stops and abandoned buildings to sleep in until he made enough to rent a place.

It couldn't be much longer until he found a way to make it back to his home planet. Or somewhere else that was better for his price of living. Running a hand through his hair, Heckyl walked around the front of the museum and studied it for a long moment. He'd worked there long enough to figure out when it closed and when there was less security working. Maybe that night he could make his way back into the museum an find a place to sleep; the park bench wasn't as good as he thought it would be. Especially for his back.

Stomach growling, Heckyl turned on his heel and headed towards the park. There was an ice cream stand he could stop at and a few attractions that would bide his time until it was dark enough that he could get back into the museum. Plus, there were enough people around so that he could entertain himself a little bit. Watching humans was something he found to be very interesting. They worked similarly to those on his home planet and yet they were an entirely different species all together.

He watched families and couples walk by, frowning as he did so. He couldn't remember if he had a family at all. Anything from his past was completely gone, his most recent memories being that of a bounty for others within the universe. But that wasn't really him either; that was Snide. The battle of the wills between the two was always a battle in itself.

"You here again?" The vendor asked as Heckyl walked up to the ice cream cart. He chuckled as Heckyl ordered his 'usual' and started to scoop out a cup. "Seems to me you've been here a lot these past couple of days."

"What can I say? I really enjoy this ice cream," Heckyl explained. Once the cup was in his hand, he looked over to an empty park bench nearby and sat down. Crossing his leg at the knee he resumed his daily practice of people watching.

This day was different, however, as within the first few bites he found his cup of ice cream blasted out of his hand from an energy based attack. Park patrons screamed and ran, ducking for cover as Heckyl whipped around to find Snide walked his way, sword drawn and pointed directly towards his heart.

Heckyl got up from the bench and moved around it, staring at Snide as he did so. His eyebrows twitched and then he smirked, walking towards the monster that used to reside in his body. "Well, well, well you can't stay away can you?" Heckyl asked.

Snide continued to walk towards Heckyl as well. "What can I say? Sitting around and watching you ruin everything got boring," he said. "You're this close to being able to take down the rangers, to steal their Energems and you just sit back and keep working."

Heckyl faltered for a moment. He hadn't counted on Snide coming back to watch him so quickly. That explained why he was so angry; he still wanted the Energems to take over the universe while Heckyl didn't want that anymore. Shortly after he and Snide had separated he realized the anger and fury that filled his body, the feeling of wanting to be the strongest slowly dissipated as time went on.

 _If that had all been Snide's plan than what part of the two of us was real?_ As soon as the thought crossed his mind, there was a searing pain within Heckyl that made him fall to his knees, trembling.

"Heh heh, looks like you haven't gotten rid of the evil influence over you," Snide commented, finally coming to a stop in front of Heckyl. He reached out the sword and pressed the tip to his forehead. Heckly shifted slightly due to his heavy breathing and received a scratch across the forehead. "It's too bad the Dark Energem had to be wasted on the likes of you. I could've had the entire world by now."

"Dark…Energem?" Heckyl whispered.

Snide started to bring back his sword and Heckyl looked up at him. He slowly brought his goggles up over his eyes then looked down at his hands. It was exactly what he needed to see. Snide let out a cry and brought his sword down at the same time that Heckyl brought up his hand and sent a blast of bright blue energy back at Snide. It struck him so quickly and forcefully that Snide was knocked off his feet and shot backwards across the clearing.

Then he was back on his feet and struck Heckyl in the chest with a blast of energy from the edge of his katana. Not able to move out of the way quick enough, Heckyl flipped through the air. Right when he was about to hit the ground, a tendril came out of Snide's chest and wrapped around Heckyl bringing him close to the monster's chest.

Snide tightened his grip on Heckyl, causing Heckyl to groan in pain. Snide's yellow eyes glowed in fury. "I'm going to destroy you myself you insignificant little toad."

Heckyl smirked and managed to rasp out, "It's good to see we have the same opinion of each other." With that, he unleashed another fury of energy into Snide, causing him to loosen his grasp on Heckyl and crash back against the ground. Snide then got back to his feet and hurried towards Heckyl once more, swinging his katana overhead. Heckyl raced back towards him and ducked under the first swing of his sword, kicking Snide in the face.

Then the two became locked in heated battle, overpowering each other with ease as they went. But there was no clear winner. Heckyl and Snide, having been two parts of one strong monster were strong all on their own and it showed as they fought. Heckyl ducked out the way as Snide came towards him with his sword once more then kicked backwards, knocking Snide's sword out of his hand. Snide screamed in fury and the two spun around and struck each other in the chest.

Heckyl gasped in pain and fell to his knees as Snide did the same. He brought a hand up to his chest and clenched it against his clothes. He willed himself to get back to his feet but couldn't find his breath. His body erupted into painful flames as he struggled to breathe. Looking up, he found Snide manage to crawl his way over to his sword and picked it up, charging another energy blast towards him.

With a flick of his head, eyes flashing with rage, Heckyl held up his hands and started to charge and attack as well. He could feel his body's energy becoming stored in that attack. _If I have to do down, I'll take him with me,_ he thought.

There was a sudden blast of energy that neither Snide nor Heckyl shot out, that struck the blue monster, making him drop his sword. Surprised, Heckyl stopped his attack and used his hands to catch himself as he fell forward, breathing harder than ever, a cold sweat encompassing his body.

He turned his head and watched as an Aqua ranger re-holstered his Dino Charge Morpher. He then turned towards Heckyl and nodded at him. Heckyl leaned back on his heels, running his hands through his hair. Pain continued to encircle his body as he watched the Aqua ranger take on Snide until they both disappeared; Snide taking off before he could be destroyed.

Almost as if Heckyl had been seeing things.

* * *

 **A/N:** Again, let me know what you think switching of POVs per chapter does for pacing. I'd really like to know how it reads as a reader rather than someone who wrote it. Also, what do you think of the characterization of Heckyl? I know it's a bit different from the show but here he's not as bloodthirsty on his own now that Snide isn't part of him anymore (and not just because of Kendall).

 **~Avalon**


	4. Chapter 3

**03**

* * *

"The Aqua Ranger?" Kendall's hands tightened around the pen that sat in her hand as she watched Keeper take a few steps towards Heckyl. "Are you sure?"

Heckyl's eyebrows rose and for a moment Kendall caught a glimpse of the old Heckyl. The one who would get angry at the drop of a hat because of his followers wouldn't do everything they were supposed to. The one who sent down as many Vivix as he pleased to tire out the rangers before becoming so besotted with rage that he sent down everything in his fire power save for when Snide would come out to attack.

Instead of allowing that anger to take him over once more, a sigh of frustration escaped Heckyl's lips before a serene calm seemed to slide over him. Almost as if he was working hard against something they couldn't see.

"Yes, I'm sure. If it wasn't for him showing up I probably would've been destroyed by Snide," Heckyl commented. "If not we would've both been destroyed." He flexed his fingers, the tips glowing blue for a second. "He's not going to stop until I'm destroyed and I'm sure it's not going to take much more for him to make sure that happens. And he won't hesitate to take you guys down with me. Especially not after what happened with Iceage."

Kendall nodded. That had been almost catastrophic; Iceage had managed to freeze most of the team and if it wasn't for Tyler and Koda they would've been destroyed. Then Kendall's mind shifted to what had happened between her and Heckyl then and she felt her cheeks start to enflame.

 _Geez, Kendall, why can't you stay focused on what's important?_ She berated herself before regaining composure when Keeper turned back towards her.

"Please contact the other rangers. We need them to know about the Aqua Ranger. With him around we'll be closer to having all of the Dino Gems in our possession."

Crossing her arms, Kendall tilted her head to the side. "I just don't get why the Aqua Ranger would suddenly decide to disappear like that. If he or she is around then they have to know that the power ranger are here too. Why not try to search them out?"

"The only way we'll know is if we get the chance to speak with him or her ourselves," Keeper said diplomatically. Kendall nodded and turned to do as she was told, to contact the rangers. Her mind flew in a million different directions ranging from how to find the Aqua Ranger, what they would say to him or her to get them to choice the team, and all sorts of different charger and zord combinations that could be used to fight Fury and Singe and everyone else that Snide would send down to attack them.

The possibilities were endless.

And yet they had no idea if the Aqua Ranger was on their side or was one for acting alone.

Once Tyler, Shelby, Chase, Riley, Koda and Ivan arrived at their lair they all started to ask questions at once about the Aqua Ranger and what had happened earlier that day. Kendall watched as Keeper calmly fielded the questions left and right, not noticing when Heckyl turned on his heel and left the base.

"So if the Aqua Ranger is around why isn't he trying to join us?" Riley asked, eyebrows coming together in confusion. "It makes no sense."

"It could be a 'she'," Shelby reminded him sharply. He held up his hands defensively.

"Riley does bring up a good point," Keeper said. "It's actually something that Kendall, Heckyl, and I have been speaking about before you arrived. We have no reason at the moment to believe this is anyone that is going to try to attack us. Or betray us in some way."

Ivan made a noise in the back of his throat. "Not unless he has the misfortune to befall what I had fallen with Fury," he reminded him.

Kendall nodded slowly. That had been a bit of a hard adjustment for the rangers as well; when Ivan was revealed to the gold ranger. Not only had Fury had the ability to morph into the gold ranger because he had managed to absorb the Energem and Ivan all at once. But he had attacked the rangers with that power over and over again. Then Tyler had become convinced that it was his father who was the gold ranger. When it was revealed to be Ivan that was hard for Tyler to come to terms with as well as the rangers having to work with another ranger entirely.

It worked fairly well, though Ivan and Tyler seemed to have a sense of tension around them to see who really was the leader of the team. Then Ivan had seen Tyler's true potential to be the leader and had taken a step back, now working as second in command. But this was different.

 _We have to go in with caution,_ Kendall realized before mentioning her idea to the other rangers. "If we don't know whether or not we can trust his guy."

"How do we know we can't?" Tyler insisted. He took a step towards Kendall, dark eyes flashing with emotion. He pressed his lips together for a second, looking away before saying. "We have to see if we can track him—"

"—or _her_ ," Shelby insisted once more.

Tyler faltered a bit then nodded. "And watch them for a while. It's a surefire way to know if we can trust them."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous, mate?" Chase asked. He pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. His chest heaved up and down as he fought to catch his breath from skateboarding back to work so quickly. "We could be running into a trap."

"We won't know unless we try," Kendall reasoned. She pushed her glasses up her nose before starting to pace back and forth. "The longer we wait the worse chance there is that something could happen. Or that Snide will find him first."

"Or that Heckyl try to capture us," Koda suggested.

A cold chill fell through the room as the rangers took in Koda's words. Kendall opened her mouth to protest then immediately stopped. He had a point. It couldn't have been much of a coincidence for Snide _and_ the Aqua Ranger to be there. _Science doesn't run on coincidences…but everything surrounding the responsibilities of being a ranger…that's never a coincidence,_ she reminded herself. Lifting her gaze, Kendall noticed Ivan watching her carefully, as if waiting to follow her lead on what they were going to do.

"He's got a point," Shelby said. The tone to her voice had darkened from the irritated insistence from before. "Heckyl's the one that said he saw the Aqua Ranger…how do we know he's telling the truth? He could be leading us into a trap."

"He could barely keep a plan together to try and destroy us, I'm not sure how this would benefit him," Riley reminded her.

"Must not make light of our enemy," Koda reminded him. "They can take advantage of situation."

Chase didn't seem to pay much attention to what Koda had to say. "It's simple enough, lead us to the Aqua Ranger and keep us in a trap to have Snide attack us and merge back together with Heckyl, yeah?" Chase reasoned. But even he didn't look like he believed it either. All eyes turned to Kendall whose own eyes widened for a second.

Then she cleared her throat and stood up straight. "We can't rule anything out right now one way or another. Heckyl is already here to help us with the café and to keep our secret—"

"—But we don't know if he'll even do that!" Shelby protested.

Kendall gritted her teeth. This was starting to become very annoying. It was if she couldn't do something good for the rangers without them having to question her all the time. If it wasn't for setting up the base, hunting down the other rangers, scanning for Energems, and creating new Dino Chargers she wondered what they would all do without her.

"He hasn't done anything so far," Kendall insisted. "And that's what we have to continue to monitor him for. He's kept your secret and has worked in the café as he said he would. Right now we need to focus on the Aqua Ranger."

"I understand your hesitations, rangers. But if we continue to hesitate Snide may create more havoc than anything else we've ever come up against," Keeper said soothingly.

Ivan then cleared his throat, taking a step forward as he kept his hands behind his back. "I for one believe that Ms. Morgan wouldn't lead us astray. If we've been able to handle working with Heckyl without a peep so far I don't believe there's anything he'd be doing anytime soon."

Kendall gave him a grateful smile and turned to her computer to set up the tracking systems for the power signatures the Aqua Ranger would put out. It booted up and pinged a few times, placing the remaining power signatures from the area that Heckyl had been before, detailing where he had been attacked. She sighed, shaking her head.

"See? That's exactly where Heckyl said he was the first time, but I'm not getting anything right now," Kendall stated.

Shelby hummed to herself as she and Riley walked up to Kendall's side to look for themselves. "Do you think you have increase the size of the parameters?" Shelby asked. "Or maybe the powers of the Aqua Ranger works differently than ours."

"It is possible," Riley agreed. "Even if we were to track all of our energy outputs on a daily basis they would look differently. Tyler's would probably be the brightest as he's the strongest out of all of us. But Ivan's would be different as well because of the time he spent as a part of Fury."

"You do have a point, Riley. There are certainly a lot f things to look through in terms of being able to track the Aqua Ranger. We must be diligent in finding him before someone else does."

"What would you like the rest of us to do?" Chase asked.

"Don't get in the way," Kendall stated, rubbing her forehead. She was starting to get a headache. This whole thing was starting to become even more complicated than she ever thought it would. _Looks like it's going to be another long night in the lab,_ she thought.

Lifting her head her eyes scanned the room looking to see if Heckyl would be standing in the corner of the room, brooding quietly. But Kendall was surprised to find he wasn't there. Funny, she didn't notice he had even left. Well, he _had_ been in a rush to leave earlier that day after the rangers had practically ambushed him once again, even she wouldn't want to stick around if she was in his shoes.

 _But he does deserve it,_ Kendall reminded herself. _He worked t try to destroy us on multiple occasions. It's not like he's completely innocent._ Then she turned and found Tyler sitting at a desk, staring off into space. Kendall steeled herself before walking over to him.

She already had an idea of what he was thinking about.

"Penny for them?" She asked, sitting down at his side, crossing her legs at the knee.

Tyler jumped then turned to her, smiling sheepishly. "I'm not thinking of anything in particular," he said slowly. "I just…" He noticed the stern expression on Kendall's face as she raised an eyebrow and he sighed, turning towards her. He glanced over his shoulder then lowered his voice. "It's just…I have a feeling the Aqua Ranger may be my dad."

 _Good grief, here we go again,_ Kendall thought. But she didn't say it out loud. She wouldn't dare. Tyler had been searching for his dad for so long and still refused to give up hope despite how long it had been since he heard from him. Even then her thought wasn't out of malice but more out of concern if things didn't turn out the way he wanted.

"Tyler…what makes you think it's him?"

"I don't know. I can't really explain it. It's just something I feel in here…" he reached up to tap himself on the chest. "I just know there's something about this Aqua Ranger that has to do with him." He shook his head. "Man…if I were there I'd…I guess I don't know what I would do."

Kendall reached out her hand and placed it on Tyler's shoulder. "You know, you've never really told me about him before. You speak of his disappearance more than anything else. You two must've been really close."

Now a bright grin came to Tyler's face. "Yeah, we were best friends. Honestly, I think mom may have gotten jealous every now and then because of how much I preferred him over her. But…she adored him as much as I did." He chuckled. "I mean, I hope she did. They _were_ married."

Kendall laughed. "Marriage isn't everything," She remarked before she could stop herself. "My mom and dad…they were in love for a while but then one day they just stopped." She frowned, the memories and emotions she had tried to push down for so long started to bubble back up. "They fought a lot and before I knew it they couldn't talk to each other without it dissolving into some sort of argument. The only music I really listened to was the sound of them slamming doors over and over again."

Tyler's smile faded as he listened to Kendall's explanation. "I'm sorry, Ms. Morgan. That couldn't have been easy."

"Not at all," She agreed.

How was she supposed to explain to him, to someone whose parents who were only separated due to Mr. Navarro's disappearance that the only reason she had excelled so much during school was because she threw herself into her work to avoid going home to an argument.

That she made sure she stayed as long as she could after school working on whatever project came her way and aiding the teachers in their projects just to pass as much time as she could .That she worked hard to get every point for every grade and won every academic award she could get her hands on in hopes that it would distract them from their disappointment with each other. That she had many moments of having to walk home from school in the dark because neither of her parents could speak long enough to figure out whose turn it was to pick her up.

How could she explain that her childhood was so lonely and it damaged her present life more than she originally thought it would?

Or did it? Kendall glanced down at her pocket where she kept her Energem. It pulsed with a purple glow if only for a second, as if reassuring her, reminding her that she wasn't truly alone anymore. Well, as alone as she could be amongst a group of teenagers, a caveman, and a man who was over three hundred years old.

"But what got me through were my classmates and colleagues," Kendall continued. "We all worked hard to help each other succeed, we were a team. And we're a team here, too." She squeezed his shoulder before replacing her hand to her lap. "I promise if there's more evidence that your father is involved we'll do our best to make sure we can bring him home."

Tyler nodded, bringing his hair back from his face. "Thanks, Ms. Morgan."

"It's my pleasure, Tyler."

And for the rest of that day the rangers worked hard to track down the Aqua Ranger or at least another Energem but continued to come up with nothing. Kendall then sent everyone home and took another crack at it herself, becoming very frustrated when she found that even her different tactics and keywords didn't find anything before heading out for some much needed sleep.

Kendall grabbed her purse and coat from her office and headed out to the parking lot. She climbed into her car and put her things into the passenger seat before slamming the door shut behind her. She grasped the steering wheel and let out a long breath. Another long day at the museum and another quiet night back at the apartment.

It wasn't so bad, really.

She had gotten used to things being quiet since moving out on her own at sixteen. But that was when she didn't have many people around her to hang out with.

Even though the rangers were much younger than she was, it was becoming harder and harder to go from being around a lot of people to going home by herself at the end of the day.

* * *

 **A/N:** So what'd you guys think of this one? I always wanted Kendall to have more to do with the Aqua Ranger as well as Tyler's search for his father rather than what the TV show gave us. Plus I think it works here as Kendall being older than all the others gives her a bit of a motherly figure to them in some ways.

You know what I always thought was weird? That we don't know where these guys live while working as rangers? They've even shown that Riley went back to his home between 'seasons so' does he live that close? Or do they stay in apartments in Amber Beach? Do they all live there?

Please remember to review, I'm serious about my writing and my stories, and if you have anything to comment about or anything to mention or anything to say, I would love to hear it and it motivates me to write more. I respond to every review I get even if it's anonymous.

Thanks to **DorothyLovesAnime, KJ Bollinger, Sir Perfluous, Deep Blue Sea, and Rhythm Wolf** for reviewing.

 _DorothyLovesAnime:_ I'm glad you're enjoying the story and that you love it and Heckyl so much. I know my updates are pretty slow but I hope you continue to read.

 _KJ Bollinger:_ Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it so much!

 _Sir Perfluous:_ Thank you so much. I really like to take things from the show and make them their own things at times, even if it means changing the way certain plots on the show progress. I do have a plan of how it'll play out so fingers crossed it continues to go that way. I like the idea of the human side to Heckyl and what he'd be like if Snide wasn't controlling him all the time so exploring it is a lot of fun. Haha, yeah, it wasn't the last time we've seen the Aqua Ranger. Thanks for your thoughts on the switching POVs idea.

 _Deep Blue Sea:_ Well, Kendall can be civil for only so long, so let's see how long it lasts. Lol. As for the other rangers, who knows what it'll take to get them to change their minds about Heckyl.

 _Rhythm Wolf:_ I enjoy Heckyl so being able to go more into his thoughts and personality is fun to write/work through. Of course there are some things with Heckyl and Snide I'm still trying to figure out/I hope makes sense but we'll see as the story continues.

 **~Avalon**


	5. Chapter 4

Thanks to **Deep Blue Sea, Rhythm Wolf, KJ Bollinger, and Sir Perfluous** for reviewing.

 _Deep Blue Sea and Rhythm Wolf:_ Well, I think anyone would be a little cautious when trying to bring in someone who was once their enemy. At least I doubt it would be something handled so easily and quickly. Especially from Tyler and Shelby as they're very open and passionate about what they feel while the others seem to be followers in that way. If that made sense, in my mind it did! Haha! There are some things that I'll be bringing from the show in instance to what was revealed about Heckyl, but it won't be done exactly the same way. Despite the last story being based on the episode this one goes more into Heckyl's story plot with a more realistic (ie – not a kid's show) view.

 _KJ Bollinger:_ Well, here it is! I hope the wait wasn't too long!

 _Sir Perfluous:_ As we have discussed, I agree with you. Kendall definitely deserved more episodes that were focused on her. There was plenty to learn about her and we didn't get much of that at all. And you're right; the trust with Heckyl isn't there yet. After some time it'll probably happen but not right now.

* * *

 **04**

* * *

Heckyl was plagued by a nightmare.

Every time his eyes would drift closed he'd be back in the park, watching, waiting for Snide to send an attack his way. The attack would play out the same way it had before, but at the time that Aqua Ranger had come in and saved him in real life didn't happen. He would have a sword shoved through his stomach; the loud gasp ripped from his throat would make his eyes shoot open, the same gasp happening in real-time.

Then his eyes would dart back and forth, shooting around the exhibit he tucked himself into for the night. A caveman exhibit. So fitting considering how there was a caveman on the team of rangers that didn't want him around. It certainly was strange. Heckyl had seen the way Koda's Energem had glowed when he got his fingers on it and yet he hadn't felt comforted by it at the time. So it meant there was good in him. What good?

He was the 'sane' part of an insane duo and while he had managed to be split apart from the other that didn't mean there weren't things he hadn't done. He wasn't excusable from any of it and yet he hoped maybe after enough time he could make amends or do something that would prove to not only everyone else but himself that he truly did deserve a second chance.

If his nightmares were anything to go by it would take a long time.

Days passed with Heckyl working at the café and keeping the rangers' secret when the time came. He kept his head down and did as much as he could to make things easier. Days passed where Heckyl snuck back into the museum to sleep—it was better than the woods. The woods were open, expansive, allowing his mind to wander as much as his fear. The longer he went without sleep the more times he hallucinated Snide standing around, watching him.

He hoped it was a hallucination anyway.

Maybe it was the Dark Energem wreaking havoc on him since he had been split from Snide's grasp.

Snide had said it himself; he wasn't going to stop until Heckyl was destroyed. There was a sudden high-pitched squeal that reached Heckyl's ears and he jumped, looking around. It took only a few seconds for him to realize the entrees he had been working on was suddenly up in flames. He thought he had been paying close attention; he had only _just_ put them on the grill.

Next thing he knew, Chase was elbowing him aside, blasting it with a fire extinguisher while the patrons craned their necks to see what was going on while others had their hands over their ears. Once the fire was out, Chase placed the fire extinguisher down on the counter with a light slam.

"Are you trying to burn the bloody place down?" He demanded. "It's the third time today you've done this!"

Shelby, who stood on Heckyl's other side, coughed, waving smoke away from her face. "If he wasn't _trying_ he sure came close." She shook her head, giving him a suspicious glance before picking up a spatula to scrape the burnt pieces off the grill. Every few scrapes she would cast him another suspicious glance.

Then Tyler came up to Heckyl's other side and reached out, as if wanting to place his hand on his shoulder. Then he brought back his hand as he said, "Why don't you just go back to do the dishes or something? We can handle everything out here."

"Better yet, why don't you just get out of here?" Chase added. "It'd make us breathe easier. Or is that what you want?" He looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice so no one else would hear. The sounds of water running and pots and pans clanging together as Ivan, Koda, and Riley washed dishes drowned his voice. "You want to keep as close an eye on us so that you can bring Snide in here to destroy us?"

"Chase," Tyler started.

Chase started to say something else then stopped, looking directly at Tyler. The red ranger, the leader of the team shook his head and motioned for Chase to drop the subject. Heckyl watched curiously. From his own encounters with them he knew of the red ranger being the leader of the team, the one everyone answered to despite being less experienced. Yes, he knew how the team came together and how Kendall truly was the brains of the operation.

Still, Tyler had the qualities of a leader that even Heckyl couldn't ignore; he had a good heart and was diplomatic in what he thought was good or bad for the team. So far it appeared that he was willing to listen to Kendall and give him a chance. Even over the past few days he had warmed up to Heckyl a little bit; enough so that he wasn't outright glaring or staring at him as the days went on.

Still Heckyl was wary.

Chase had a point; they didn't know if he was going to capture them and use them as bait against Snide but all the same…he didn't know if they'd do that to him either.

Finally, Chase tossed a dishtowel onto the stovetop, leaving Shelby to continue cleaning up. Heckyl lifted his gaze and blinked his thanks to Tyler; he couldn't outright say it yet. As a matter of fact, he couldn't say anything. A bolt of lightning, severe pain, shot across his skull. Heckyl cried out and bent over, placing his hands to the sides of his head. The pain, oh the pain was worse than he had ever imagined.

The last time it had been that bad was when he was about to change places with Snide. But now that they were separated who knew what it meant. Maybe he still had a hold on him strong enough to force another merge. But that had been separated the moment Heckyl had stabbed himself through the stomach, to weaken Snide enough so that the rangers could blast them apart.

So what was it now?

Another jolt of lightning sent Heckyl to his knees, pressing his hands tighter to the sides of his head. Tyler and Shelby knelt down beside him, questions coming rapid-fire out of their mouths but not touching him, not coming close to comfort him. Heckyl gritted his teeth together and tried to push the pain away but it continued to press further, like a hot poker stroking a fire.

"Get away," Heckyl finally managed to mumble.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked. "Heckyl, what's wrong?"

"Get away! It's not safe!" Heckyl's voice rose the longer the pain went on. He got to his feet, pushing Tyler and Shelby aside and got to his feet, racing out of the café. He kept one hand to the side of his head, the other blindly reaching for his pocket watch as he did so. "Please, no…" he murmured.

Making it outside the museum, Heckyl pushed past a crowd of students going inside and ran as far as his legs would take him. Finally, he collapsed to his knees in the dirt, bringing his pocket watch up to his feet. He took a breath, steeling himself for what he was about to see and opened the front.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips.

No Snide.

No evil monster looking back at him, cackling, taunting.

Nothing.

And yet the pain remained.

"What's happening?" He whimpered.

There was a blast of blue light and Heckyl looked over to find Snide standing a few meters away, cackling once more. He waved his sword in the air before rushing over to Heckyl, grabbing him around his neck. Lifted off the ground, Heckyl gasped, looking down at Snide as he continued to cackle, tilting his head back to continue looking him in the eye.

"Don't you get it?" Snide cried. "We may be split apart but we still have a link to each other!" Heckyl brought up his hands and wrapped them around Snide's trying to force his grasp open. "The Dark Energem…when it bonded to you and created my existence…it created a bond between us that'll never be broken unless one of us dies."

Heckyl took a deep breath and managed to wiggle enough so that he could breathe, so he could speak. "So do it already," he hissed. "Kill me."

"Not when you've aligned yourself with the rangers, as much as they hate you they wouldn't allow you to die, not by my hands," Snide explained. "I'll keep you alive, and bring them to me, so I can kill them myself. Then with the Energems I can take over the world…I can destroy it! But you continue to get in my way!"

Heckyl tightened his grasp around Snide's hands. It was just as he feared. He still had a link to Snide and the others were in danger the longer it went on. He was just as bad as Chase declared. But at least he could still make good choices. He would continue to fight Snide as long as he could.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you!" Heckyl replied.

He managed to wrench himself from Snide's grasp and the two were locked in another battle. But this time there was the addition of the Vivix, who ran around, trying to hold Heckyl still so that Snide could get in a few good hits.

Heckyl leapt out of the way of the Vivix that moved to grab his arms. He rolled out of the way and kicked their feet out from underneath him before he turned his attention back to Snide.

* * *

Tyler led the charge as he, Shelby, Chase, Koda, Ivan, Riley, and Kendall blasted out from the Amber Beach Dinosaur Museum and followed along behind Heckyl. Kendall could hear the sound of a struggle and she continued to follow behind Tyler. As they came through the trees they found Heckyl and Snide fighting in the center of a circle of Vivix, who leapt out to grab Heckyl when he came close enough, otherwise pushing them back to Snide when the time came.

And Heckyl fought spectacularly. Despite not having any weapons, despite not using his energy blasts, he continued to get good hits on his former alter-ego. He ducked out of the way of the sword and used what appeared to be martial arts training to keep Snide back. It was like the attack that Heckyl had described before, minus the appearance of the Aqua Ranger.

It was then Kendall realized that Heckyl had been right, that Snide wasn't going to stop attacking him until one of them were dead. But there was something that didn't make sense to her…how did Snide still know where he was?

"Hey you!" Tyler called as soon as they were in ear-shot.

Snide turned his attention to him for a second before turning back to Heckyl. "Forget it rangers, for once I don't want to destroy you!"

"Then you'll be disappointed to know we actually want the fight this time," Shelby added. She faltered for a moment, realizing that meant they had to save Heckyl. She exchanged a glance with Chase, who appeared as conflicted as he did.

Ivan was the only one who took another step forward, standing as tall and regal as ever. "Soon it will be you to know what it's like to be vanquished!" Kendall couldn't help but smile. He kept his word, supporting her in her decision to keel Heckyl around. It seemed to be working as Snide came to them.

 _But how much longer with Heckyl agree to be bait for his other half?_ Kendall thought.

She didn't have much more time to think about it as Tyler took another step forward. "It's about to get wild!" The rangers pulled out their chargers. "It's Morphin' Time! Dino Charger Ready!"

"Ready!" The rest of the team called back, spinning the sides of their Dino Chargers. "Energize! Ha! Unleash The Power!"

Tyler took up the lead once again as they were morphed. "Dinosaur Might, Ready to Fight! Power Rangers…"

"Dino Super Charge!" The team finished their morphing call before racing forward to take on the Vivix.

Kendall raced forward to attack, summoning her saber and took on the Vivix that came her way. Placing one hand on the ground she did a cartwheel to avoid the attack of one then found herself face to face with Snide, who had just thrown Heckyl away from him, poised for a direct sword attack to the heart. Kendall brought up her sword and blocked the attack, keeping a firm grasp on the hilt as the metal clashed against each other.

The sound of her friends and teammates fighting each other reached her ears as she pushed back against Snide's sword. He took a few steps back and glared at Kendall, bringing his sword up above his head once more. "He's done everything to try to destroy you and you're protecting him?" He asked, sounding partially surprised and partially enraged.

Kendall could see his anger already taking him over.

"We want nothing more than to keep our city and the planet safe!" Riley declared. He defeated a Vivix behind Kendall and came to stand beside her. "And everyone that lives on it." He turned and struck another Vivix in the chest with his Raptor Claw.

"Even when they're betraying you?" Snide insisted.

Heckyl got back to his feet. "That's a dirty lie!" He insisted, holding an arm around his stomach. He was breathing heavily, almost as if one of his ribs were broken.

"He brought you here to me just for me to take you down. For Fury, Poisandra, Wrench, and Curio to attack. Why do you think these Vivix are here? To distract you."

Kendall and Riley turned to each other. The Vivix started to back off, knowing they were losing on their fight and Koda, Chase, Tyler, Shelby, and Ivan came to their friends' sides, their weapons drawn, waiting for Sledge to make a bad move. Kendall continued to hold onto her blade, staring straight at Snide. He didn't make a move to attack them, but continued to speak.

"That's a dirty, filthy lie!" Heckyl continued. "You followed me here, you attacked me! Neither of us is going to stop until one of us is dead!"

"Then you've brought that day a lot sooner," Snide said.

"Give it up, Snide! You're outnumbered seven to one!" Tyler stated. "You're not going to win!"

"We'll see about that!"

Snide charged towards the rangers and the rangers charged back. Even before the rangers had difficulty taking Snide down; he could take them on three to one. This time, however, he seemed to be even stronger than before, knocking each ranger left and right like pin balls bouncing off flippers. Kendall was the last in line to try and take her down. His katana slashed against her blade and she twisted away, hoping to reach back and kick him in the chest.

But Snide must've known it was coming for he pushed his katana forward and flipped Kendall over. She fell onto her back and cried out as his katana then slashed against the front of her suit. Sparks erupted into the air and pain wracked through her body.

Then she was back on her feet with the others and they started their attack once more, this time with Heckyl joining in, sending energy blasts his way. Once again they were all swatted way like flies, crashing to the ground.

"He too strong!" Koda cried.

"What are we going to do?" Chase asked.

"We'll have to keep fighting!" Tyler said. He got back to his feet and nodded to his friends. "Dino Steel! Armor on!" His, Shelby's, Koda's, Chase's, and Riley's suits then gathered an extra piece of armor to their suits.

"Dino Cycle!" Kendall and Ivan called, summoning their vehicles. Kendall swung her leg over the seat and revved the engine, shooting towards Snide once more. She held her saber in her hand and shot by him, slashing Snide in the side, Ivan doing the same on his other as he went by in the opposite direction.

Then the other five rangers, using the added power boost from their Dino steel, raced to do a tag-team on Snide as well. This time the attacks fared better than they had before. Snide cried out in pain with each attack that came his way, causing him to rapidly back away from the rangers.

"Tricera Drill!" Shelby ran up a fallen log and leapt through the air, towards Snide. As she started to fall she pulled back her hand as it held onto the Tricera Drill and brought it forward, striking Snide across the chest. She landed on the ground in a crouch and turned back to Snide. "Ha! Take that!"

Snide's scream of fury and pain filled the air.

But this time it was accompanied by another cry.

Kendall followed the source of the sound and gasped, her mouth dropping open when she saw Heckyl fall to his side, holding his arms tightly across his chest. His face was pale; eyes wide but staring straight ahead, sweat rolling down the sides of his face. He continued to scream along with Snide as the rangers continued their barrage on them.

"Let's see what you think of this!" Chase declared. "Para Chopper!" He struck Snide so hard that he was blasted off his feet from the energy and crashed into the tree trunk behind him.

Once again a scream escaped from Heckyl's throat. This time he fell onto his side, starting to convulse from the pain. Though there was no signs of attack on his body, Kendall could see he was in real pain. _That's it,_ Kendall thought. _The link that's between them…they used to be the same entity…despite being split, they must be able to still feel each other's pain._

And as Koda attacked with his Stego Shield, followed up by Tyler's T-Rex Smasher, and Ivan's Gold Ptera Saber, and Riley's Raptor Claw Kendall continued to watch Heckyl. His screams ebbed away as his body continued to move through their convulsions. Then there was a moment of silence, of reprieve and his eyes moved to her. Her eyes locked with his and she found she was able to move again.

"Stop!" She started to shout.

"Don't!" Heckyl's voice overrode hers. Kendall, as did the other rangers, turned back towards him. Heckyl slowly pushed himself to his knees, spitting blood onto the ground. "He needs…he needs to be destroyed."

"But the link between you two is far greater than we thought," Ivan said, taking in his appearance. "You'll be sacrificed as well."

"It needs to happen!" Heckyl declared. He brought a fist up and pressed it against his stomach. "He needs to be destroyed or else he'll keep coming back for me. For you, to destroy you all and your Earth."

There was a blast of energy that came from the direction Snide had been standing in, knocking Kendall and her friends off her feet. It hurt so bad that Kendall didn't notice when she hit the ground. Smoke billowed towards the sky, a small fire coming from the underbrush that ignited from the energy blast. Landing hard on her side, Kendall watched as Snide was suddenly driven backwards by another ranger that leapt overhead.

"No way," Chase cried.

"It's the Aqua Ranger," Shelby said.

"Heckyl was telling the truth," Riley agreed.

The rangers watched, slowly, very slowly working their way off the ground as there was a sudden flurry of movement. A bright blue blur flew overhead and charged right for Snide. But instead of attacking him directly, instead of bringing harm to Heckyl through the attack on Snide, he deflected each one of his attacks with solid throws of his arms. Sometimes he swung behind Snide, flinging the monster to the ground with a strong grasp around his arm. Other times he kicked Snide's katana out of the way as he was about to strike and continued to evade him.

Finally, Snide became so frustrated that he retreated.

The Aqua Ranger started to follow for a few seconds then stopped. He turned back towards the rangers as they got to their feet.

"You saved us," Koda said, sounding as if he were in awe.

The Aqua Ranger nodded.

Chase nodded back. "Thanks, mate."

The Aqua Ranger pointed towards Heckyl, who slowly recovered from the attacks. "You need to help your friend," he said. Kendall took a step forward. Shelby was wrong, it was a male voice. The Aqua Ranger was a guy. Kendall looked over at Tyler, who started to take, slow, inching steps towards the Aqua Ranger.

He powered down and once he was revealed the Aqua Ranger then took a step back.

"It's you, isn't it?" Tyler managed to ask. The Aqua Ranger turned and started to run. Tyler held out his hand, calling "wait!" before hurrying after him. Kendall powered down then raced after him. She followed Tyler as he weaved through the trees, following the aqua ranger as long as they could.

But powered up and no weakened from the fight against Snide, the Aqua Ranger quickly gained ground and soon disappeared from sight. Tyler skidded o a stop, breathing heavily, resting his hands on his knees. Kendall came up to his side and glanced at his face, feeling her heart clench when she saw the pain that flashed through his eyes. The only sort of pain that was felt when having something dangled in front of their face then ripped away again.

How many times could this happen to him before he completely lost faith?

"Tyler," Kendall started.

"It was him," Tyler gasped. "I know it. I know…it was him. It was my dad."

Kendall pressed her lips together. She wouldn't dare ask the question she was wondering but couldn't help but wonder.

 _If it really is his dad…why does he keep running away?_

* * *

"How's it looking, Keeper?" Riley asked. His arms were crossed nervously over his chest, fingers deftly moving to remove a hangnail on his fingers. Keeper made a humming sound as he backed away from Heckyl, lifting his staff as he did so. "That doesn't sound good."

"No, a 'hmm' just means mulling things over, mate," Chase said. He reached out and placed his arm around Riley's shoulders. "It's an 'uh' or 'um' that makes people worry." He started to grin but Riley gave him a disapproving look and Chase cleared his throat, dropping his arm. "I was just…trying to lighten the mood a little."

"I don't think now's the best time for that, ok?" Shelby shot back. With a heavy sigh, she tucked her hair behind her ears. "What's going on, Keeper?"

"There aren't any markings on his body that are in agreement to the blows you've give Snide," Keeper explained. "And yet, he recoils as if he has been struck."

"What does that mean?" Koda asked.

Kendall took a deep breath through her nose. She turned to Heckyl as he continued to lie on the examining table and shook her head, looking over the reader in her hand. "It means that he reacted to the attacks that we managed to put on Snide, but nothing has shown up on his body. Which means this is entirely psychological."

"I don't think his screams were psychological My Lady," Ivan pointed out. He made a face for a moment. "Even though…I don't…really understand what that means."

A sigh escaped Kendall's lips. "It means there's a strong connection between Snide and Heckyl. One that their split didn't seem to help."

Keeper hummed again, gently shaking his head. "It's just as I feared," he remarked. "I was unsure of its true origin at first but now I know for sure."

"What are you talking about, Keeper?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, what do you know?" Shelby added.

"Heckyl and Snide must've come into contact with the Dark Energem."

"The Dark Energem?" Ivan and Riley repeated at the same time.

Kendall's heart sank as Keeper nodded. "It has the same sort of power as your Energems, if not even stronger. Created from the powers of evil while your Energems were created from the power of light. If it falls into the wrong hands there will be catastrophic danger." Keeper motioned towards Heckyl. "It must be the link that ties them together."

"But neither of them have the Energems or else our scanners would've picked them up, right?" Chase pointed out.

Shelby shook her head. "We weren't able to pick up the energy output of the Aqua Ranger and he showed up again."

Heckyl stirred and opened his eyes. They fluttered a few times before he looked around at everyone as they stood above him. His eyebrows furrowed then the corners of his lips twitched up. "Well, this is starting to get familiar."

 _Oh, good grief._ Kendall shook her head, though she could help but notice the relief that washed through her. It caught her off-guard, really. Just as being frozen on the battlefield caught her off-guard. Nothing ever really fazed her and both times it had been Heckyl in danger that managed to do so.

"Do you remember everything that happened?" Keeper asked.

Heckyl nodded. "Yes."

"Do you have any idea of what link there is between you and Snide? That it would make you feel the pain inflicted upon him?"

For a moment the room was silent. Heckyl's eyes shifted around, his eyebrows lowered. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't know," he murmured. "The first time we fought each other, I didn't feel any pain when attacking him. The only time was when we split, when I…" he trailed off, closing his eyes as if in pain once more.

When he stabbed himself in the stomach.

They had all been a witness to it.

"Do you know anything about a Dark Energem?" Tyler asked.

There was another long silence as Heckyl became lost in thought. Finally, he shook his head. "No," he replied. The simple word dashed the rising hopes of the rangers. If he knew what the Dark Energem looked like, where it was, that would've given them a leg up over Snide. But without that information they were just as clueless as they had been before.

Slowly, Heckyl moved into a sitting position, as if testing his mobility. Kendall took a step forward, holding out her hand. "We don't know the extent of the damage yet," she warned him. "You might be injuring yourself more by doing too much too soon."

Heckyl leveled his gaze to her and Kendall felt a blush rise to her cheeks, her stomach erupting in butterflies.

"I've lived through worse," he said simply.

"Are you sure?" Shelby took a step forward and looked at him in concern. She must've confused herself by the gesture for her eyes widened for a second before she chewed her lower lip. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to check that there's no internal damage."

"I'm fine." Heckyl got up from the examining table and started to leave the base with the rangers watching him.

Tyler noticed Shelby's continued concern and nudged her arm with his. "If he says he's okay then he's okay," he said to her. Shelby nodded. "But it's…it's really nice that you care."

Startled once more, Shelby started to smile. Then she lowered her gaze to her feet, tucking her long hair behind her ears as she shuffled her feet. "I mean, it wouldn't be good if something happened to him. We'd lose our connection to Snide." She nodded, as if to convince herself and exchanged a shy smile with Tyler, who suddenly appeared very interested in the floor as well.

Kendall, who was watching the two, smiled a little as she shook her head. Then she found her gaze following Heckyl once more. She thought of the way he had looked at her when letting her know he was okay. She had seen that look before. Right before he had kissed her for the first time.

His eyes had been serious as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes had been wide and she made a noise of surprise the second before his lips pressed against hers. Then her eyes had fallen closed and she concentrated on the warmth his body made against hers.

But now she was cold as she stood in the lab, watching him leave.

Kendall's eyes narrowed as he passed the wall of Energems.

Her eyes may have been playing tricks on her, but to her it looked like the Energems glowed as he walked by.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know I need to stop apologizing for slow updates but I can't help it. I'm sorry. A lot has been going on. Good thing though. But the time away has given me more inspiration as to how I want this story to go! So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the progression it has brought to the story.

Please remember to review, I'm serious about my writing and my stories, and if you have anything to comment about or anything to mention or anything to say, I would love to hear it and it motivates me to write more. I respond to every review I get even if it's anonymous.

 **~Avalon**


	6. Chapter 5

Thanks to **KJ Bollinger, ZRyder, Deep Blue Sea, Writing Therapist, Sir Perfluous, DorothyLovesAnime, Rhythm Wolf, and Guest** for reviewing. As well as thank you for all of your kind words and understanding with being so patient with my updates. It means _so_ so much.

Quick response to _Writing Therapist_ : I have some planned out but some of it will be from his back story.

And for _Guest_ (I apologize for any mistakes as my French is a little rusty: Merci beaucoup! Je suis d'accord, j'aurais aimé voir un Heckyl plus humain comme le temps passait pendant le spectacle. Mais c'est ce que l'histoire est pour, être en mesure de l'écrire. Je suis heureux que vous l'appréciiez tellement!

* * *

 **05**

* * *

Kendall ran a brush through her wet hair as she stared at her reflection. The steam from the shower dissipated around her, slowly receding from the mirror. She studied her reflection; the dark look in her eyes, the bags, and she was sure she was starting to get wrinkles if not a gray hair. Working at the museum was stressful enough when things started to fall apart or even one budget was out of place. It was hard enough when she first worked the ranger base out from the museum.

But now that she was a ranger, going out to help fight, on top of running the museum she was starting to become ragged down. Everyone kept telling her that she worked too hard, even Keeper gently tried to get her to take breaks every once in a while. But she couldn't do that. She lived to work she always had to have something to do. But then again…she hadn't had a day off or a day to herself in so long she didn't know what to do with herself anymore.

When she got back to her place she would make dinner—usually pre-heated from the weekend—catch up on some email, read, and then go to sleep. The same cycle day after day. But today was going to be different. There were still ranger stuff she had to do, but it was more important than the others they had done before. They had to know what was going on with the Dark Energem, its connection with Heckyl and Snide, and the Aqua Ranger.

Kendall finished brushing her hair and closed her eyes, resting her hands against the sink as she leaned forward. She was supposed to be in a good mood to have a good day of going to the beach. Or was it to the park? She didn't remember where they were going specifically but to have a day off. The Museum was closed for one reason or another—it was buried in the back of her mind along with the plans she had to potentially find the Aqua Ranger. She was worried about that, too, how Tyler would feel having a day off for some fun when he was so sure his father was the one who had saved them all.

 _Don't think about that, Kendall. You're supposed to think about everything but that. _She shook her head and focused her attention on her reflection once more. _Think of this like a job. It's your job to have fun and not worry. Don't stress._

She couldn't help but smile at her reflection. She was a ball of stress; she and stress were best friends. Without stress she was nothing. Still, it _had_ been a long time since she was able to lean back, soak up some rays, and read a good book.

Plus, she could use a tan; she was starting to get a little pale. All of that time in the lab underneath the Museum didn't really help her complexion much.

* * *

Kendall thought going to the beach would make her relax a bit more but it was probably more stressful than the museum. In an ironically unfunny way. As soon as they arrived at the beach—the namesake of the city—she barked at the rangers to put on sunscreen before they raced into the water. They all stopped and stared at her like she was crazy, even with Shelby commenting that she never burned.

But that didn't hold Kendall back. She placed her hands on her hips as she stepped towards them. "Just because you don't burn doesn't mean that you won't get skin cancer. As a matter of fact, melanoma is rampant within the African-American community. Not to mention there are other issues that can arise other than cancer, sun spots, blisters, cracked and bleeding skin—"

Ivan made a face. "And I thought nothing could faze me from those countless battles and wars I've been in blood that has been shed…" he shuddered, turning away from Kendall.

Tyler laughed as he looked at Ivan, noticing something that stuck out of the legs of his swim trunks. "Ivan, you're not supposed to wear underwear when you're swimming," he said. Kendall and the others looked over and laughed as the legs of his boxers sticking out from below his swim trunks. His underwear stopped near his mid-thigh, almost to his knee, while his trunks stopped a few inches higher up.

"Either that or wear briefs with those, mate," Chase added, chuckling.

Ivan looked at them curiously. He blinked and turned to Koda who shrugged. "Briefs?" he repeated. He shifted his feet, spreading his feet apart a little bit and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry, what are briefs?"

"Oh good grief," Kendall murmured, rubbing her forehead.

"They're…" Tyler faltered for a second. His eyebrows scrunched together and he then exchanged glances with Riley and Chase. The three turned to Koda who looked back at them, eyes wide with curiosity. "You…you know what briefs are, right?" He eyed Koda up and down, who followed his movements, eyes widening even further. "Right?"

Koda reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Yes, but I thought everyone preferred…uh…" he tried to remember the name of it. "Boxers."

"Or boxer-briefs," Chase supplied.

Shelby threw her hands up, her expression a grotesque face of horror. "Okay, we _so_ do not need to be talking about underwear right now."

"I agree," Kendall said. She had brought her hand back to nervously scratch the back of her head. Then she lowered it and closed her eyes. "Okay, whatever. Go into the water, splash around, play volleyball. Just _stop_ talking about this!"

"Ooh!" Riley pointed towards her face. "You're blushing!"

"That's preposterous!"

"Oy, no its not!" Now Chase joined in on the laughter. Of course he did, since they met he seemed to do everything in his power to mess with Kendall when he had the chance. "Your face is absolutely turning red. You're blushing!"

Ivan lifted an eyebrow and leaned towards Kendall, his eyes searching her face. "Your face has taken on a peculiar shade of pink, My Lady. Tell me, is it the sun that has burned you or is it that you indeed are blushing about the topic of conversation?" Now Shelby pressed her lips together and turned away, trying not to burst out laughing.

Kendall ran her hands through her hair. "Go away!" She declared.

Riley saluted her. "Will do," he declared.

Kendall turned to lower herself in her chair as the rangers shed their clothes down to their bathing suits. Kendall smirked to herself when she noticed Tyler doing his best not to check out Shelby in her bright pink bikini and her, in turn, trying not to check him out in his red swimming trunks. There was only so much time they could send small smiles and looks each other's way before they finally did something about their not-so-secret crush on each other. To the point that Kendall was tempted to just lock them together in a room and force them to say something.

But that'd be cruel and besides, it wasn't like she knew anything about romance anyway. The last relationships she had, well…

Kendall shook her head. _Don't think about that. It'll just make you upset._ Kendall watched as the rangers hurried out into the ocean, with Chase holding a surfboard over his head as he went and Koda holding onto a beach ball. She watched until she was sure they started to play, it must've been the mother hen part of her nature, before she sat back in her lawn chair. It was only with that sense of calm and quiet around her that she finally relaxed enough to wiggle out of her clothes. Once she did, she immediately moved to cover herself, not used to showing so much skin in her purple bikini. She kept telling herself to buy another bathing suit, something a little more conservative, but when was she actually going to do anything other than work at the Museum.

Shuffling sideways, she sat in her seat and brought up her knees. She picked up her book and opened it, propping it against her knees, soon lost in the world of fiction. Anyone that knew her probably thought she'd be reading some sort of a textbook or the packet of upcoming promotions for the museum. She liked to stay away from it every now and then, to actually get lost in a new world where it was someone else doing the fighting and rescuing. It wasn't so stressful if she wasn't the one doing the saving sometimes.

"Kendall?"

Startled, Kendall looked up and shielded her face, despite wearing sunglasses, to see Heckyl standing beside her. He was already dressed in swimming trunks and was tossing his clothes and towel to the sand beside her. She was thankful for the shades or else he would've noticed her looking over the blue markings—tattoos, he explained to anyone who asked—that marred his body. Same in color to the blue that marked Snide's body. Her eyes shifted to the marking on his neck, the one that continued to burn when Snide was trying to work his way back to the forefront. Still, as she looked over his body she found there were no scars on him. No bumps or bruises from his fight with Snide. Nothing despite the mental and psychological pain that had to continuously hurt him. No one could forget it.

Kendall shook her head, noticing that she was staring at his body while Heckyl was saying something to her. "Sorry what? What are you doing here?"

"I was invited. You all invited me to come along," he pointed out.

Had they? Oh right, she remembered. They were talking about going to the beach; she had basically been dragged in to do it. She tried her hardest not to go—she hated the beach—but Chase talked her into it, reminding her that the museum was going to be closed the day they wanted to go. Since when did he take notice of the schedule for the museum anyway? He probably looked at it at least once since they started working together and Kendall continued to snap at him for being late because he just "had" to get that one skateboarding trick. Who knew he would use it against her? It didn't help that he gave that famous "Chase Charming Smile" that seemed to work on every girl that turned his way.

She had to have been getting sick to have been affected by it. Then Riley was the one to ask the question, "Should we invite Heckyl along, too?'

The response, at first, had been resounding silence. Kendall took the time to look at each of the rangers' faces. They weren't sure it was a good idea. They had only just gotten an idea that he wasn't behind everything he did, that Snide really was. They had only just started to warm up to him.

Then Keeper cleared his throat and took a step forward. "At a time like this, knowing how he is continuously being plagued by the Dark Energem and Snide, it is not wise to leave him on his own. You protected him in battle just as you would anyone else. You all need each other if you're going to find a way to stop Snide."

And that was it. As soon as he said it, all eyes turned Tyler's way. He chewed his lower lip for a minute then nodded. "Keeper's right! No matter what happened, we can't push Heckyl away like this. We all deserve some time to have fun, so why not Heckyl, too?"

"Okay." Chase looked a little smug. He crossed his arms. "How are you going to invite him?"

Tyler opened his mouth to respond then closed it, realizing he had no idea. There were a few moments of confusion before Shelby threw her hands into the air. "Never leave a man to do a woman's work!" She declared before stalking out of the base, taking her Energerm with her as she went. They weren't sure how she did it but somehow she managed to track down Heckyl and let them know of their plans to go to the beach.

Still, Kendall was surprised to see him show up.

"What?" She asked.

"Would you mind watching my stuff?" Heckyl repeated calmly.

"Yes, sure." Kendall stuck her nose back into her book. Then she felt self-conscious because of it. Did he think she didn't want to talk to him? She really didn't. Honestly, she had no idea what she felt about him. The rational part was angry at the way he had betrayed them before but an even more rational part of her knew he was doing his best to separate from Snide now.

And the way he had been willing to give up his life…He didn't hesitate at all when saying the rangers needed to destroy Snide. To have him stop wreaking so much havoc despite their lifelines being tied. He sucked up the pain that wracked through his body, waiting for that release, knowing it was the right thing to do. How could he have done so many bad things but it be so easy for him to want to die?

Kendall shook her head. She'd read a few pages then look up towards the water, watching as Heckyl seamlessly joined in with the fun. Shelby, Koda, Ivan, Riley, Tyler, and Heckyl played some strange game of keep away with the beach ball while Chase stuck it out on the waves, doing moves as impressive as he could do on the skateboarding. He must've gotten tired of it because after a few more waves he glided on the board back to the shallow portion of the water.

Once he reached his friends he threw off the leash to the board and raced towards Riley, kicking up water as he went, and tackled him down just as Riley caught the ball that was thrown his way. The two crashed into the surf, the incoming wave washing over them, and Chase came up with the ball, punching the air with his fists. Riley scrambled to his feet and crashed into him again. The ball bounced loose and Koda and Tyler chased after it, with Koda grabbing on a few seconds before Tyler. Tyler then jumped onto Koda's back to knock him over, but Koda hunched down in the sand, keeping his center of mass low.

Tyler merely bounced off him and landed in the surf as well, making Ivan, Shelby, and Heckyl to burst out into hysterical laughter.

Kendall smiled.

It _did_ seem like fun.

The next thing she knew, the rangers were running back over to her and pulling on her arms to drag her out of her lawn chair. Kendall struggled as hard as she could to keep herself in her seat but Tyler, Chase, Riley, and Koda grabbed onto her arms and legs, dragging her out from her comfort zone—quiet literally—and across the sand. Once they reached the water they started to swing her back and forth. Kendall couldn't help but laugh as she struggled.

"One!"

"No, no!" She cried, kicking her legs back and forth.

"Two!"

"I promise I'll fire you all!"

"Three!"

"Aaaaah!" Kendall closed her eyes, bringing her hands to cover her face as she was launched into the water. She sputtered when she surfaced, pushing her hair back from her eyes, salt water trickling into her eyes and down her face. Around her, she could hear her friends all laughing. Finally, the water stopped falling into her eyes and Kendall looked each of them in the eye before saying, "I hate all of you."

That made them start laughing once more and this time she joined in. She couldn't help it. It _was_ pretty funny and the water was refreshing. Shame on her for thinking that reading was the best thing to take her mind off things. And for the rest of the day she joined in on whatever it was that they wanted to do. She helped Koda and Ivan build a sandcastle and couldn't help but find amusement when Ivan's poorly constructed castles would fall. The gold ranger would then pout and say, "I've seen bigger and batter castles than this blasphemy. And they weren't built out of sand, either."

"Kendall, this right?" Koda asked. Kendall smiled as she looked down at what appeared more like a mud pie. She nodded in encouragement before building her own castle which was then knocked down by a jealous Ivan.

Kendall glared at him and he said, "See? The structural integrity is terrible."

Then they played a game of chicken with Tyler and Shelby one team, Chase and Riley another, Koda and Ivan a team, and Heckyl and Kendall a team. Kendall hesitated when that was decided before going along with it. It was just a stupid game and anyway, she knew they had the advantage due to the height differences between them. It was easier to have to lean forward and push up rather than lean _down_ and push back. Heckyl kept a strong grasp on her legs as they charged their way through the other teams.

Shelby and Tyler were the near perfect tag team. Shelby fought as hard as she could, as much as she would when fighting against Sledge, Snide, or any of the Vivix. Every time Kendall thought she was able to knock her off, Tyler would somehow roll her across his shoulders and back to keep her up, giving her a second chance to knock their opponents over.

But they were still no match for Ivan and Koda. Something about Koda's strength and Ivan's fighting spirit barreled their way to a win, knocking out Kendall and Heckyl and Chase and Riley before going up against the red and pink rangers. Tyler and Ivan managed to talk some smack to each other as they were both on the bottom of the chicken couplings. That was a battle that went on the longest, until Koda finally won, knocking Shelby and Tyler over.

Koda and Ivan threw their hands into the air, cheering loudly while the others begrudgingly clapped their win. That was, seconds before they all surged forward to knock them over. Finally, they dragged themselves out of the water and went back to their towels to dry off and start eating.

Kendall reached over and grabbed Heckyl's towel along with hers. She handed it to him, trying to keep from noticing how her fingers tingled as his brushed over hers, before wrapping her own around her shoulders and sat back in her chair. Curling the ends around her hands, she watched as the others settled down, too.

"It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Tyler asked with his ever present smile. "I'm glad we decided to do this."

"I'm glad it was my idea," Chase replied.

"Of course he can't go very long without having to mention it was his idea," Riley said, tilting his head Chase's way.

"Makes you wonder how his hat can fit on his head, his ego's so big," Heckyl muttered. He clearly hadn't meant to say it out loud as his eyes widened when Kendall and Riley immediately burst out into loud laughter. A split second later Tyler, Shelby, Koda, and Ivan started to laugh too.

Chase rolled his eyes, but even he couldn't help the smile that managed to worm its way onto his face. T was a good joke and he knew it.

Kendall leaned back in her seat and looked over at Heckyl, watching as he laughed along with them. It was the happiest she had seen any of them in a long while, herself included. She wanted to feel like that more often.

It was a day she would always remember.

* * *

 **A/N:** I think there was enough time for the rangers to angst a bit, so here's a chapter where they actually have fun. Before things continue to spiral for them of course, lol. And for everyone who was a bit frustrated with me (lol, I understand) some more with the rangers actually being nice to Heckyl. But is it a real thing or is it just because they now know about Heckyl's and Snide's painful connection?

Please remember to review, I'm serious about my writing and my stories, and if you have anything to comment about or anything to mention or anything to say, I would love to hear it and it motivates me to write more. I respond to every review I get even if it's anonymous.

 **~Avalon**


	7. Chapter 6

Thanks to **Guest, KJ Bollinger, WritingTherapist, Sir Perfluous, Deep Blue Sea, and Rhythm Wolf** for reviewing.

* * *

 **06**

* * *

 _Heckyl looked over his shoulder as he sat beneath the terrain that covered him. There wasn't much time left, but he had to think of a game plan to get out of there. To get the box out of there before the evil forces caught up to him and took things back. But he couldn't let that happen or else his planet would be in trouble._

 _Catching his breath, he leaned over to look through the holes that petered throughout his wooden fortress. He didn't see anyone coming his way. They must've gone in the opposite direction from the way he had been running, which was his plan all along. Still, he couldn't get too cocky about it. A few more minutes of wait and then he could keep going._

 _Leaning back against the wall of his fortress, Heckyl grasped the box in his hands against his chest. He knew what was inside, but didn't know the sort of power that came from it, why it was so desirable. As far as he knew, it was just a gem, but as everyone on Sentai 6 knew, it held a lot of power for whomever had it in their possession. Heckyl needed to get it across Sentai 6 and to keep it safe. He had been gone from his home for almost a week now and his pursuers managed to stick behind him the entire way and gaining on his trail as the days passed._

 _With a sigh, Heckyl shifted the box and tightened his grasp around it. He could practically feel the energy pulsing form inside, reminding him of why he had to get away. He waited a few more minutes before leaving his shelter. He looked over his shoulder and hurried across the dense forest, running and running until he reached the other side. There, he skidded to a stop, his eyes widening in equal parts horror and determination at the desert that stretched in front of him._

 _There was no cover to be seen, but the desert had to end at some point, coming to another village where he could seek refuge. He just had to make the first step._

 _The sudden blast of energy that shot from behind him made up his mind. Dirt rained all around him as the enraged screams and blasts of energy followed him. Heckyl tucked the box under his arm like a football and ran as fast as he could. Each energy blast came closer and closer to him as the seconds passed, so much so he could feel its heat against his back, feel the dust that shot into his air settle into his lungs, feel his feet skip a step as he struggled to keep his balance._

 _And still he ran._

 _At one point he risked a glance behind him, long enough to yell out, "You'll never get your evil hands on this!"_

 _Then he turned forward and pumped his legs even faster. But it was no use. There were three more energy blasts that proved to be precise. The ground erupted beneath Heckyl, sending him and the box flying through the air. Heckyl cried out as everything moved in slow motion, the world tilted and turned around him, smoke swirling. He tried to hold onto the box but it immediately slipped out of his hands and crashed to the ground._

 _Heckyl slammed to the ground after it, pain erupting through his entire body. He groaned, rolling off of his side and onto his stomach. Speckles of blood splattered the dirt and as he spit, more joined it on the dirt below him. Then a purple glow reached his eyes and he looked over to find something glittering out in the ground. The gem! He had to protect it._

 _Scrambling in the dirt, Heckyl raced after the gem as it continued to roll across the dirt. He mustn't get it! He thought frantically. Finally, Heckyl surged forward and grabbed onto the gem, holding it up in his fingers. It didn't appear to be damaged, even without the box he could get it to safety as long as it wasn't damaged._

 _Then there was pain wracking through his body, even more so than what he had just experienced. It started in his stomach and moved through his body, surging through his muscles, pulling them taught. His body wrenched as a scream erupted from his mouth._

 _He fell forward onto the ground, feeling his body twist and turn, starting to change. His pain, anger, and frustration increased as the seconds passed until it completely consumed him._

Heckyl's eyes snapped open and with a sudden change of weight, he flipped himself over and out of the tree he had been sleeping in, crashing to the ground. A groan escaped Heckyl's lips and he rolled onto his back to look up at the sky. That had been more painful than he thought it would be.

Then the memories of his dream came back. He had been running somewhere, going after some sort of a gem. A gem…? It must've been the Dark Energem, the very same that Keeper said had bonded him and Snide together. It made sense, he for a long time he hadn't remembered much of his home of Sentai 6, or where he came from and why he was a bounty hunter. Back home he was a respectable young man with a family and friends…a life all of his own. Now his life was being split with a monster that had no means of humility or empathy who could only be destroyed if he himself was killed.

 _It's a good way to atone for your sins,_ Heckyl reminded himself as he sat up, brushing dirt off the front of his clothes. _As well as to make sure he can't hurt anyone else._ He thought for a moment, tilting his head to the side. But did that mean he had to kill himself and could just up and do it? Or were there other factors that came into play? Like the two had to be together for it to work?

Heckyl brushed the thought aside just as there was a rustling sound and he found Koda leaping out from the tree next to him. Heckyl flinched and leapt backwards as Koda brushed off his shirt, smiling at him.

"Hi Heckyl," he greeted. Then his eyebrows lowered in confusion. "What you doing in tree?"

"What was _I_ doing in the tree? What were _you_ doing in there?" Heckyl brought a hand up to his chest, breathing deeply. "I was…I was taking a nap before my shift." Koda didn't need to know that's where he had been sleeping the entire night before. It wasn't the comfiest place to sleep but it was better to be up there to hide from Snide than being out in the open on a park bench.

"I…getting exercise," Koda replied. "I go for run and climb trees in addition to ranger training." He turned and pointed behind him to where the rangers were coming their way.

"Training?" Heckyl repeated.

He watched as the others continued closer to him, eyeing them carefully. They didn't seem to have suddenly changed their minds about him after the day at the beach. Though he could still sense some sort of reservations from some of them; Chase especially. Even at the beach he didn't engage Heckyl in much conversation except for a few comments here and there. Heckyl thought things were alright considering he didn't have an adverse reaction to the comment he made about Chase's ego.

Still, it wasn't like the black ranger was welcoming him with a bouquet of roses as he would do to many girls that came his way.

"You do your training all the way out here?" Heckyl asked.

"It's very secluded," Kendall remarked, using his fingers to push her glasses up her nose. "And a way to make sure that these guys can use the terrain to their advantage and figure out how to use it when in battle. Not to mention we come here for them to work on their target practice. And," she reached out and slapped a blaster into Heckyl's palm. "So are you."

"Me?" Heckyl nearly dropped the blaster before handing it back to her.

"Yes, you," Kendall insisted. She glanced at the rangers. "If you're going to be part of us, then you'll have to work on your sharpshooting, too." She lowered the blaster, seeming to understand that it wouldn't be of much use to him compared to the energy blasts he could do from his hands.

"One of…you?" Heckyl repeated. He looked around at the rangers as they nodded back to him. Even Chase nodded his agreement as well. That had to be something they talked about.

"Yeah, you're part of the team now," Tyler agreed. He took a step towards Heckyl and looked him in the eye. "You had plenty of chances to attack us since splitting with Snide, every reason to take our identities and our Energems and take them back to Snide and you haven't. We can trust you, just as you can trust us." He held his hand out towards Heckyl. Heckyl looked at it for a moment then reached out his hand, shaking Tyler's as well.

Tyler smiled and nodded, taking a step back.

"So, while we get started you're going to stay back her with me so you can see what the rangers are doing," Kendall explained as she set up a table filled with computer equipment. "Then we'll see where you stand in terms of your skills." Heckyl watched as she moved around, almost like a bee, to get everything together before telling the rangers to morph and summon their Dino Cycles.

Then the two stood aside as the rangers went up and down on the course that was set out for them. Kendall continued to hover around the table and the computers, not staying in one spot for more than one second. As the rangers continued to do their runs, she would give instructions into the head mic attached to her ear. Heckyl made sure to stay out of the way, moving back when Kendall would reach for the computer in front of him or when she would need to move to get a better glimpse of the rangers. Each of them did a good job with their target practice, save for Tyler.

From Kendall's light grunt when Tyler slowed to a stop, he could tell his run wasn't that great. "How'd I do?" Tyler asked once he powered down. Kendall chewed her lower lip while the rest of their friends all exchanged glances.

"Not so bad," Shelby said slowly diplomatically. "You hit every target."

"Yeah, and?" Tyler's eyebrows furrowed, recognizing her tone of voice. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"It's not _bad…_ " Riley said slowly. He motioned over to Shelby, who held one of the targets, showing a burnt spot right above the bulls-eye. "It's just not up to your usual run. Out of six targets you only got four of them."

Tyler's eyes widened as he took the target from Shelby and looked it over. He brought his fingers up and gently ran them along the edge of the burn hole, wincing and pulling his finger away as it burned. Then he shook his head and turned away, running his fingers through his hair.

"Mate, is something bothering you?" Chase added. "It's like your head's been in a different place."

"It's nothing, I just…" Tyler kept his back towards his friends. Then he lowered his hand from his head and turned back to face his friends. "It's just…these woods are so familiar to me. Like I've been here before but…I'm not so sure."

"Been here with who?" Kendall asked sharply.

"We were here when Iceage attacked," Heckyl spoke up. He cleared his throat. "When he froze you all before Tyler and Koda rescued you."

"No, it's not that. I feel like…" He pressed his lips together and looked around. "I chased the Aqua Ranger around here during our last battle. But even then, it…" He snapped his fingers. "The memory box! My dad and I used to have a tradition where we put a metal box out here and would put mementos in there every year, it's a tradition." He took in a deep breath. "That has to mean something, right? That the Aqua Ranger would come here. I know it was him during that last battle, I just _know_ it." His friends all exchanged glances and Tyler made a face in response.

Heckyl knew how he felt, longing for what was home to him. But Heckyl hadn't realized that was the longing he had felt for a long time, not before the dream he had. Not before remembering his hometown and everyone there had been destroyed. And he never knew if there was anyone that managed to survive, if there was anyone looking for him. Or if they even wanted him to _be_ alive since—unwittingly—having joined Snide on their terror trek around the galaxy. It probably didn't help that his friends didn't seem to have as much faith in it.

"Tyler," Kendall said in a low voice. "You know I'd help you track him down if we had any substantial evidence to prove it was him. But so far…we don't have anything—"

"—Ms. Morgan, I promise you that I wouldn't be wasting anyone's time if I didn't believe it was him."

"Um." Shelby bit her lower lip. "Tyler…you know I wouldn't want it to be anyone but your father. But…there' still a chance it's someone else. And whoever it is, we need them to join our team. If we focus so much on whether or not it's someone—"

"—so you're saying you don't believe me," Tyler interrupted.

Shelby closed her mouth and Ivan took a step forward to take his chance. "Sir Tyler, you have to believe that our reservations are because we want to be sure that everything's on the up and up." He looked around at their friends as they nodded. "There's not giving up hope and then there's blind faith and that can be dangerous when—"

"—Even if it's not him it's another ranger! We _have_ to find out who they are so they can join the team and make sure we can take down Snide, right?"

"Right, mate, but at the cost of what?" Chase asked. "Say it's not him. What happens then? Then you're going to run off every time you think you see him? Even if it's in the middle of a battle?" Tyler glared at him and Chase held up his hands. "Mate, I'm not saying that you should give up. I'm saying that there are…things you have to be prepared for."

Tyler shook his head in determination. "I know what to be prepared for. And I know it's him." He turned his attention back to the targets. "Ms. Morgan, put the targets back up. I promise I'll do better this time!"

Kendall started to say something then stopped. She nodded at Tyler and went back to her computer. Heckyl watched her movement for a moment then did a double-take. He thought he saw something move on screen. Move incredibly fast. Twisting around, Heckyl's eyes scanned the trees as the rangers moved to set up the targets once more. He scanned the tree line, lifting his gaze up towards the high branches. It took a few seconds before he realized that Koda was doing the same; he had stopped and lifted his head, his head twisting to the side as he listened.

Then Heckyl felt a shooting pain start in his neck, the same sort of pain that flared up whenever Snide was around. Heckyl whipped around just in time to find something heading directly towards the rangers. He pulled his goggles up from around his neck to his eyes and spotted the monster, Ninja, heading their way. Heckyl gritted his teeth together, knowing about the abilities Ninja had. Usually working alongside Hunter, the two were a formidable opponent for the rangers. But this time he was on the other side of the fight and with his strength seeming to have been slashed in half since splitting from Snide, he wasn't sure if they could win.

"Look out!" Leaping up, Heckyl turned and grabbed Kendall around the waist, flipping them away as something heavy landed on the desk she had just been standing at.

Heckyl and Kendall landed on the ground and the two whipped around in time to see a black street shoot towards the rangers. Koda flipped out of the way just in time, but his friends didn't move fast enough. Tyler, Shelby, Riley, Chase, and Ivan were all knocked off their feet, flipping through the air. They crashed to the ground in a heap.

"Ugh, what _was_ that?" Riley asked, pushing himself up.

"I don't know, mate, I didn't see anything," Chase replied. Once he was on his feet he was knocked down once more.

The black streak then headed towards Koda, who turned on the ball of his left foot and arced wide with his right, kicking it in the face. The black streak shot back across the clearing and struck a tree, falling to the ground. Heckyl got to his feet and looked over at the monster. It was definitely one that Snide was sending down. To watch them maybe? Or just to tire them out.

Either way it was enough that seeing the monster on sight made Heckyl angry. Angry for the life he could've had but Snide's appearance had taken away. Angry for the Dark Energem's existence and for all of those evil that were trying to come after it. Angry for the lives of his family and friends that had been taken down. So much so that he didn't find it strange to stand alongside the rangers as the monster came to a stop.

"One against eight isn't so bad when you've got speed on your side," the monster cried.

"Ninja," Heckyl declared. His eyes narrowed for a second before he smirked. "Nice to see that Snide is starting to become worried about us. Otherwise he never would've sent you out again."

"Heckyl," Ninja snarled back. "We'll see what it means to be a _real_ outlaw!"

"You guys ready?" Tyler called. "It's Morphin' Time! Dino Charger, Ready!"

"Ready!"

"Energize! Ha! Unleash the Power!"

"Dinosaur Might, Ready to Fight! Power Rangers Dino Super Charge!"

The rangers raced forward to start their assault on Ninja. Heckyl followed along behind them, using his energy blasts to attack him as well. There was a strong struggle against Ninja, especially due to his speed. No matter what weapon the rangers summoned, it didn't seem to slow Ninja down at all. His speed was blinding, even faster than what Tyler or Riley could conjure from their dinosaur counter parts.

"Ninja Stars!" Ninja leapt high into the air and threw a series of stars their way.

Heckyl ducked onto his shoulder and rolled across the ground as the ninja stars flew overhead, exploding the ground behind him. He closed his eyes and covered his head with his arms as the dirt rained down around him.

 _The ground erupted beneath Heckyl, sending him and the box flying through the air. Heckyl cried out as everything moved in slow motion, the world tilted and turned around him, smoke swirling. He tried to hold onto the box but it immediately slipped out of his hands and crashed to the ground._

 _Heckyl slammed to the ground after it, pain erupting through his entire body. He groaned, rolling off of his side and onto his stomach. Speckles of blood splattered the dirt and as he spit, more joined it on the dirt below him. Then a purple glow reached his eyes and he looked over to find something glittering out in the ground. The gem! He had to protect it._

 _Scrambling in the dirt, Heckyl raced after the gem as it continued to roll across the dirt. He mustn't get it! He thought frantically. Finally, Heckyl surged forward and grabbed onto the gem, holding it up in his fingers. It didn't appear to be damaged, even without the box he could get it to safety as long as it wasn't damaged._

 _Then there was pain wracking through his body, even more so than what he had just experienced. It started in his stomach and moved through his body, surging through his muscles, pulling them taught. His body wrenched as a scream erupted from his mouth._

 _He fell forward onto the ground, feeling his body twist and turn, starting to change. His pain, anger, and frustration increased as the seconds passed until it completely consumed him._

Flipping back to his feet, Heckyl put his goggles back over his eyes and whipped his head around, trying to focus on the energy reading that Ninja was giving off as he raced around. Then there was a new, sudden blast of energy that came along as well. One with a bright blue aura around it. It flew through the air and crashed into Ninja, holding a sword as he did so.

The Aqua Ranger landed on the ground in a crouch beside Heckyl before standing up.

"Another ranger!? I didn't expect that!" Ninja cried as he came to a stop. "No matter. I can still blind you with my speed!" He raced towards the two that were left standing. "Ninja Shadow Attack!"

Heckyl soon found himself blown off his feet along with the rangers. He looked to the side and saw the Aqua Ranger had been struck by the shadow attack as well. But he quickly regained his footing and looked over at the rangers, nodding at them.

"We'll have to bring out the blaster," Chase declared. "Otherwise, I don't think we can take this guy down."

"He's too fast," Shelby replied.

"There has to be a way we can slow him down," Riley said.

Kendall let out a sound of exasperation and brought her hands up to her forehead. "C'mon Kendall, you can come up with something," she muttered under her breath. She then turned to Ivan. "We have to block him, to give the others some time to get the blaster together."

"I'm right behind you, My Lady," Ivan replied.

"You can count on me, too," the Aqua Ranger said.

"Dino Saber!" The three cried in unison, summoning their weapons. Then they lead the charge towards Ninja. Heckyl followed along behind them. Ninja drew his sword and the four quickly surrounded him to give the other rangers some time to combine their weapons together to create the blaster.

Heckyl ducked out of the way as Ninja swung his sword at him and struck him in the chest with a blast of energy. Ninja then turned his sword around to plunge into the ground, pulling himself to a stop from sooner than Heckyl had anticipated. Ninja lifted his sword out of the ground and swung it a few times around, slashing against Kendall's Ivan's, and the Aqua Ranger's knocking them off balance. Around and around they went, holding off Ninja as long as they could.

"Rapid blast!" Kendall cried, pulling up her morph blaster. "Energize!" She spun the side of her mopher. "Dino morpher, blast!" The purple energy came out of her blaster and crashed into Ninja, sending him backwards.

"Dino Charger, ready!" Tyler cried. He pressed the button on the side of his dino charger and threw it into the air. "Weapons, combine!" His, Koda, Shelby, Chase, and Riley's weapons all came together to form a blade. Ivan took the chance to jump backwards and hold his sword overhead.

"Lightning final strike!" Ivan declared.

"Red Ranger, launch!" Shelby, Koda, Riley, and Chase said, linking their arms together so that Tyler had a springboard to launch himself off of.

Tyler leapt high into the air and grabbed onto the sword. "Dino Spike! Final strike!"

The two attacks shot towards Ninja and Kendall, Heckyl, and the Aqua Ranger all backed out of the way. However, it wasn't fast enough and while Ninja got hit by the attack, he didn't take the full force. Ninja fell to the ground and chuckled, it slowly turning into full blown evil laughter as he got to his feet.

"What?" Riley cried. "How could that not work?"

"He took on a direct hit," Chase said.

"I don't understand," Koda said.

"And I thought you rangers were faster than this," Ninja declared. He got back to his feet. "You should know by now that Master Snide always has something up his sleeve." He pointed the tip of his sword towards Heckyl. "You especially."

"What's he up to now?" Heckyl demanded.

"You should know Heckyl…you're one and the same."

With that, Ninja disappeared in a streak of black once more. The rangers started to follow him then stopped.

Heckyl let out a curse, lowering his goggles around his neck. The rangers powered down and all started to talk almost at once.

"What did he mean?"

"Is there something you know?"

"If there was something he knew then he would've said it by now!"

"Do you know that?"

Heckyl swallowed hard, closing his eyes for a moment. "I remembered something," he finally said, getting them to stop. "About the Dark Energem….from my past."

"What about it?" Riley asked, eagerly.

"I had a dream about my home. About Sentai 6. I was holding onto a box that had the Dark Energem and I was trying to keep it away from someone. But I was defeated and dropped the box. The thing that was chasing me didn't get the gem, I did. I grabbed onto it and turned into Snide."

"Just like Keeper said," Chase said. "That's how they were bonded together."

Kendall turned to Heckyl, her eyebrows lowered into an expression he couldn't quite place. "So you lost your family, your entire planet trying to protect the Dark Energem? To keep it from falling into the wrong hands?" Heckyl nodded. "So where is it now?"

"I don't know. After I turned into Snide…I don't remember what happened to it after that."

"What about _our_ Energem?" Koda asked. His eyes widened as all eyes turned his way. "Heckyl was around Energem…it glowed."

"You know…I saw the same thing, when he was leaving the base," Kendall said quickly. She started to pace back and forth. "They Energems are a good judge of character from what we've seen or else they wouldn't have bonded to you guys, to all of us. So if they glowed like Koda said they did and the way _I_ saw them…then that means that Heckyl is truly someone we can trust."

"Then what did Ninja mean when he said Heckyl knew what was going on?" Shelby asked.

"Probably referring to my connection with Snide," Heckyl said.

Silence stretched through the group for a moment and Tyler took that time to hurry over to the Aqua Ranger, who turned to leave. "Wait!" He cried. The Aqua Ranger stopped. "You came back to help us…again. We need you to stay here, we need you to help us. To be a part of our team."

"I'm not sure you'd want me as part of your team," The Aqua Ranger replied.

"Mate, I don't know if you've noticed, but we could use all the help we can get," Chase said. He looked over at Heckyl and nodded. "No matter where we can get it."

"The sense of justice, of wanting to help you is strong," The Aqua Ranger said. He turned to face the group, the face plate of his ranger suit opening up. Tyler gasped and took another step towards him. "Having found the Energem I knew there was a purpose for it. But at the same time, I knew I had to keep my loved ones safe. It came at a higher price than I could imagine."

"Yet you still help us," Koda pointed out.

"Seeing what you were all up against, seeing what you could do…I knew I had to. I just hope it wasn't too late." The Aqua Ranger powered down and James Navarro stared at the group meaningfully. His eyes landed on Tyler, who looked like he didn't know how to react. His breath caught in his throat and he took a step back before taking a step forward.

Shelby reached out and grabbed onto his arm, shaking him. "Tyler, it's your dad!" She said.

"He looks the same as the pictures you've showed us," Riley said. "Bonding with the Energem must've stopped his aging."

"That's probably one of the few good things about it," James said with a small smile. But he kept his eyes on his son.

Tyler managed to smile back. Then he took a step forward and launched himself into his father's arms. James slapped his arms around his son and hugged him just as tightly.

Heckyl turned away, feeling a pang of pain in his chest. What he wouldn't give to be able to have that now that he knew what he lost. What he almost had before. Almost as if reading his mind, Kendall grabbed onto his wrist and turned him around.

"You have to tell us everything you know about your connection with Snide! And the Dark Energem. Anything that you remember at all!"

It all came out so rapid-fire that made Heckyl take a step back. "I don't know anything! Not anything other than what I've just told you."

"Heckyl…"

Heckyl reached out and placed his hands on Kendall's shoulders but she moved away from him. "I'm telling you the truth. Everything with me and Snide… I can fix this; I need you to trust me."

Kendall glared at him, "Like I trusted you last time?"

Bringing a hand to his stomach, Heckyl made sure that Kendall hadn't really punched him as it felt like. In a way he did deserve it, but on the other hand as much as they said he was part of the team now, that they understood they were split apart, the reservations were obviously still there. He'd already put his own life on the line as a bounty, what else did they want?

"Kendall…"

Heckyl reached out his hand and pushed some of Kendall's hair behind her ear, holding her in a firm grip to keep her eyes on him.

Kendall turned her gaze away, her eyes still flashing with fury.

Heckyl started to say something else but stopped when there was a low rumbling sound.

He moved to stake a step back and felt himself grasping for the air as the ground gave way beneath them and the rangers fell.

* * *

 **A/N:** If Power Rangers were a little bit more realistic, I think the rangers would've had a bit more to say about Tyler's dad being alive or not as well as Tyler's blind faith that he was alive. Of course not that it's a bad thing that he kept up hope, but I felt there would be some people who would be a bit more reluctant about it. Especially as it had been ten years.

Anyway, the Aqua Ranger being Tyler's dad is not the end. There's still plenty left for this story to go through. Especially in terms of Heckyl and Kendall and some things with Kendall and Tyler and the others. Just a few things for you guys to look forward to.

 **~Avalon**


	8. Chapter 7

Thanks to **Guest, KJ Bollinger, Rhythm Wolf, Deep Blue Sea, and G3ORGA** for reviewing.

* * *

 **07**

* * *

Snide curled his hand into a fist. Even through the little movement of his fingers made him quake with a violent fury. A fury that was reserved for the only person that had the ability to kill him. He used to control his body so well, switching with him so that he had a chance to destroy the rangers.

Now that he was his own free agent, he wanted nothing more than to leave Heckyl begging for mercy. To have him bawling his eyes out as he realized his life was about to be cut short. Snide wanted to see the horror in his eyes as he looked at the sword poised high above him before it was brought down into his throat, wanted to watch the light leave his eyes as quickly as the blood that would pool on the ground around him.

Snide wanted him dead.

Not just for keeping him from defeating the rangers once again, but for the sheer humiliation of it afterwards. Sending Ninja down to take care of them had been an easy decision to make. Just so long as he was able to follow them around and bring the information back to Snide. Boy did Ninja move fast. The second he went back to Snide, revealing everything about their arsenal and new abilities, along with the new ranger that was with them.

So Snide knew it was the best time to put his plan into action.

Divide and conquer.

He got Ninja to take his sword and beam back down to the area he had left the rangers, destroying the ground around them so that they would become trapped in the caverns below. The very same caverns that would be the most opportune place to trap each ranger and in turn make it their graves.

"An individual grave for each ranger, leaving Heckyl for last." Snide gently shook his head as he lovingly rang his fingers over the blade of his sword. "And I won't have to do much in the way of digging. No one will ever know where they went and I'll be known across the entire galaxy as the one who singlehandedly took them down."

Snide stood up and twisted his sword over. The guard glowed blue and shimmered for a few moments before a picture of an unconscious Heckyl appeared on screen. A cut across his forehead was bleeding while dirt smudged his face. From what Snide could see it appeared he was in a large cavern by himself, only one way in and out.

Snide chuckled.

"Perfect," he whispered.

Just what he needed to have the final battle between his other half where he would be sure that he'd be the last one standing. Even if it meant killing himself to do so.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, finally got to an update to this story, though I do apologize after the wait it's a short one. I lost motivation/inspiration for a while so I guess I'm working to test the waters of being back in again.

 **~Avalon**


	9. Chapter 8

Thanks to **KJ Bollinger, Sir Perfluous, ZRyder Rhythm Wolf, and Deep Blue Sea** for reviewing.

* * *

 **08**

* * *

"Shelby….Shelby! Shelbs, wake up."

Shelby's eyes fluttered then closed. She tried to lift her head then stopped, feeling a splitting ache that made her entire body tense and curl up. A gasp escaped her lips and she reached up her hands to feel the pulsing spot, then felt a strong pair of hands force them away.

"Don't touch," she could hear James's voice say. "You really hurt your head."

Shelby groaned again. Then she felt her head slowly lifted then resting on something soft. Intuitively, she knew it was Tyler and smiled a small, soft smile of thanks. Tyler must've understood for he gently ran his fingers over and through her hair to say 'you're welcome'. "Do you know where you are?" He asked.

"Fighting Ninja," she mumbled. "Then we fell."

"You must've hit your head on the way down," James said. His voice echoed around the cavern around them. "It's a pretty long fall." Then Shelby felt something dripping down the side of her face and she hissed, wincing as her forehead stung. "Yeah, this is going to hurt a little bit but it's better than getting an infection."

"Mhm."

Shelby closed her eyes. She tried to remember what happened. They were fighting against Ninja, then he had destroyed the Earth around them and they were falling. So that was it, they were trapped in the caverns below the ground, the same ones that were on the map Tyler had shown then. So what happened to everyone else and what were they going to do now?

Finally, Shelby managed to open her eyes. She slowly pushed herself up and brought a hand up to her forehead. "Shelbs, don't push yourself," Tyler warned.

"I'm okay," she said, pushing his hands away. She braved a smile for him despite how much her head was swimming. "I'm tougher than this."

Tyler smiled. "Yes, you are."

James carefully grabbed onto Shelby's head and pushed her hair back from her face. "It doesn't look like it's anything more than a cut. You're probably going to need some stitches." He patted the pockets of his khakis then finally came up with a sewing kit and a needle. "I can do it if you want."

Shelby eyed him carefully. This was her head they were talking about, not a set of drapes for the living room. "Do you know what you're doing?"

James chuckled. "I've gotten myself through enough skirmishes to understand how to use this sewing kit for even some of the biggest cuts and scrapes I've managed to get. I promise, I have a steady hand." A mischievous light flashed through his eyes as he flicked his gaze over to Tyler. "You can hold his hand if you'd like."

Tyler glared at his father, who smiled to himself as he turned away, preparing the needle and thread. Shelby prided herself on being strong and able to take care of herself. Every time she felt she would dust herself off and get right back up and keep on fighting. But this time this was something she had absolutely no control over and that freaked her out a little bit. So she decided to stay strong and firm and make sure she was able to…

No.

Oh no.

That was a big needle.

Not happening.

Shelby squealed a little and turned her head away from James. She reached out and grabbed onto Tyler's hand, crushing it in her grasp. If it hurt him at all, he didn't let her know instead laughing at her intense reaction. James even laughed to himself as he steadied Shelby's head and moved the needle closer to her. Shelby leaned back out of the way.

"I'm not going to be able to do this unless you hold still," James pointed out.

Tyler squeezed Shelby's hand, if possible harder than she was holding onto his, and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. Shelby glanced at him and the two shared a smile. Shelby took a deep breath and turned to James, nodding silently. James reached out and slowly started to work the needle through her skin.

Shelby winced at the first prick. It hurt more than she thought it would.

"It's okay," Tyler reassured her. "You're doing great."

Shelby took a deep breath and allowed herself to focus on Tyler's voice as he whispered encouraging words to her. Focused on the way his hand felt in hers. Focus on the way her fingertips followed his pulse. He was right there beside her and wasn't going to leave her.

"Alright," James said a few minutes later. "You're done." Shelby let go and reached up, pressing her fingertips to the stitch job that had been done to her forehead. It seemed like it would hold up. But they'd know later. "If anything you're going to need to get your head checked by the time we get out of here."

"I've been telling her that sine I met her," Tyler joked. Shelby made a sound of offense and elbowed him in the stomach. Tyler laughed, pushing her hand away as the two got up. He dusted off the seat of his pants and looked around. An orange glow cast around his face. "Where are we?"

"The same place I was trapped when I found my Energem," James explained. He placed his hands on his hips, taking a few long strides to jump up on a bolder. He looked around the darkened cavern. "Though I'm not quite sure I've been to this part of it before and I've explored a lot of these caverns."

Shelby then let out a light gasp. "The others?"

Tyler frowned. "They must be trapped, too. I haven't seen or heard any of them sine I woke up. I was waiting for you guys…" He scrambled to his feet. "We have to go find them."

"Sure." James waved his hand. "If you can get through that." He pointed towards a narrow crevice in the wall.

"That's easy." Shelby got to her feet. "I just morph, use my Tricera Drill and blast through the wall." James shook his head. "What?"

"Like I said, I spent a lot of time down in these caves," James explained. He turned to face his son and his friend. "I know basically every cavern, every trial, every river bed that goes through here. And, unfortunately, this wall isn't structurally sound."

"Meaning?" Tyler prompted.

"If you go blasting through that wall, chances are it'll cause a cave-in." James looked at the two rangers seriously. "And if what I know about these caves is true…then everyone will be caught in it and no one will know where we are or how to get us out."

* * *

"Do you smell anything?"

Chase and Riley exchanged glances as they waited for Koda to stop running back and forth along the cavern they were in. He whipped his head back and forth, sniffing loudly, before he shuffled to the other side of the cavern. "Koda?" Chase prompted, after Koda didn't answer Riley's question.

Koda came to a stop and stood up from his crouched position. If anything, the caveman should've felt at home down there, but his eyes were wide with terror. Probably filled with memories of when he had been trapped in ice and held underground for years before Chase and Kendall found him. Or maybe from past expeditions that had hurt or killed some of his family and friends.

Or maybe it was that he couldn't get a good scent on his new ranger friends to help them. "No," he finally said. "I don't smell anything. Not Tyler, not Shelby. Not Kendall, not Ivan. I smell nothing but…" his nose wrinkled. "Dirty water and stinky flowers."

Riley rolled his eyes and turned to Chase.

Chase looked back at Riley, then over at Koda. He crossed his arms defensively. "I was going to meet up with Kaylee," he defended himself. "You know, before we got banished to the outskirts of nowheresville." He brought up his hand and removed to his cap to scratch his head. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but we fell through the ground and are stuck in whatever tunnels these are," Riley said. "Like…the ones that James had been stuck in. The ones Tyler showed us the map of." He placed his hands on his ships, shaking his head. "If I had known these were down here I would've explored them sooner. There's a lot that can be explored and—"He then noticed Chase and Koda both looking at him. " _After_ we get out of here of course."

"And you say _I_ have a one track mind, mate," Chase said with a roll of his eyes.

"You do." Riley drew a figure eight in the air. "An infinite loop of girls, girls, and girls. Sometimes ranger duties manage to squeeze in there." He pulled out his Dino Com. "Let's see how the others are doing. Guys, its' Riley." The Dino Com bleeped as he sent out the message, but didn't get anything in response. Riley frowned and tried again. "Guys, it's Riley, come in."

Still nothing.

"What wrong?" Koda asked.

"The Dino Com isn't sending out a signal." Riley's eyes narrowed as he looked over the piece of equipment. There didn't seem to be any sort of damage to the device. Not anything that he could visibly ascertain. He turned this way and that, trying to see if there was anything that could strengthen it. "It's like something's blocking the signal. But I can't tell what it would be."

"What could block the signal from down here?" Chase asked. "It'd have to be something powerful. We don't even know how far down we are."

"A couple of miles at best," Riley said .He tilted his head back as far as it would go and Chase followed his gaze. He swallowed hard as the sloping ceiling of the cavern continued to stretch up and up and up…with no end in sight. "And there's no sign of the others, either."

"So what do you—"

Chase and Riley both cried out in surprise as there was a sudden _fwoosh_ and Koda turned to them with a torch in his hands, made up of a burning stick. Koda's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the two. "What?" He asked.

"How'd you do that?" Chase asked.

"Bash rocks together," Koda explained. He pointed to the rocks that sat by his feet. "Sparks create fire," he explained.

Riley smiled a little. "Thanks, Koda."

"Well, now we can at least see our way out of here," Chase said. He replaced his hat. "And we have to go find the others. Let's go."

"It might be better if we stayed here," Riley said, grabbing onto Chase's arm as he started to move by him. "They always say, if you're trapped somewhere or get lost, to stay in one place."

"Yeah and if we stay here, we're sitting duck for Ninja is he ever decides to come back." Chase shook his head. "No, we can't stay here. We have to go find the others." He jumped down from the rock he was standing on and went to Koda's side.

Riley licked his lips and let out a breath. He thought for a moment, then did the same, going to join Chase and Koda. The three left the cavern in they were in and started to traverse through the darkened path, Koda's makeshift torch lighting the way as they went. Water dripped around them from the stalactites that lowered towards them. Judging by the echo around them, Riley could tell the sound was reverberating off of numerous walls around them. There were plenty of tunnels and caverns around them.

It was going to take a while to find the others.

But they had to start somewhere.

* * *

Ivan splashed down into the body of water that stretched out in front of him, nodding as it went up to his knees. "It's not too deep," he reported to Kendall and Heckyl. "Let's go." He turned and held out his hand to Kendall, helping her down into the water as Heckyl, jumped down beside them.

Kendall held her breath, trying not to react against the cold water against her skin as they walked deeper and deeper into the cavern. Ivan looked over his shoulder at her, blinking an apology. The water move up to their chests as they continued walking. There were ledges of rock all around them but nothing that they could reach that'd help them move forward. Nor were they really sure of the direction they were going in, whether it was right or wrong, the way out of a dead end. The only thing that could be heard around them was the sound of dripping water and the sloshing around them as they continued to move.

Kendall let out a cry of surprise as she felt the ground disappear beneath her and the water enclosed over her head. Ivan and Heckyl grabbed onto her arms and she was pulled back up, sputtering and coughing, trying to clear water from her lungs.

"Are you okay?" Heckyl asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kendall said.

"Not for long!" The voice echoed around them and Kendall, Ivan, and Heckyl whipped around to see Ninja standing on a rock face in front of them, sword held high in the air. "I've got you just where I want you."

"Haven't you done enough?" Ivan snarled.

"I'm just getting started," Ninja replied.

Heckyl suddenly gasped, bringing a hand up to grab his head. His eyes squeezed shut and a guttural groan escaped his lips. Kendall swam over and grabbed onto him, furiously kicking her legs to keep the two afloat as pain wracked through his body, keeping him from sinking beneath the water.

"It's Snide," he grimaced. "He's close."

"Closer than you think!"

There was a sudden dive bomb and Kendall felt herself forcefully knocked backwards and whipped around to face Snide as he wrapped his arms around Kendall's neck and squeezed. Heckyl let out a gurgling gasping sound from the pressure Snide put upon his neck. He brought up his hands and grabbed onto Snide's wrists, trying to pry his arms off, but couldn't do it. Then he lifted a hand and shot a bolt of blue energy into Snide's face, knocking him backwards.

Snide was only stunned for a second before he lunged back onto Heckyl, dragging the two under water again.

"Kendall!" Ivan grabbed onto her arm, shouting over the sound of splashing. "Kendall, come on!"

"But what about Heckyl?" Kendall asked.

"We have to get out of here and morph before we can help him. With Ninja right here—" he ducked out of the way as Ninja swung the sword at him, nearly missing his head. Kendall watched as strands of his hair fell to the water. "Come on!"

Kendall looked up at Ninja and gasped, seeing his sword coming straight for her. She took a deep breath and ducked underwater, pushing herself as far down as she could go. She looked over and saw Heckyl and Snide locked in a slow, grueling battle with each other, flashes of blue light from their energy attacks as they did so. Still, they moved slowly, almost as if they were dancing with each other, putting on a show for anyone to watch.

The dark, murky water swirled around Kendall from their movements and Ivan's kicking around them. Kendall turned and started to kick as hard as she could, pulling herself through the water and way from the attacks. Then there was a flurry of movement and Kendall felt something strong and hard knock into her back, pushing her further into the water.

Her breath escaped her lips, silvery bubbles erupting through the air around her. Then she felt her ponytail pull her head backwards, causing her to cry out again, allowing more precious air to escape. Then her voice screeched around the caverns as she arched through the air, pulled hard by something around her.

 _"Ugh!"_ Her back hit the hard ground, sending a wet 'thwack' sound around the caverns. A groan escaped her lips as she rolled onto her side, stunned. It only took a second for Ninja to be upon her, the tip of his sword pressed against her throat.

"This was too easy," he declared and pulled his arm back.

There was a sudden splash, a geyser appearing from the water below as Ivan flew up into the air. "Dino Charger, Ready! Energize! Ha! Unleash the power!" Ivan morphed and summoned his Ptera Saber. He shifted his sword in his hands and slashed it down towards Ninja. "Hiya!"

Ninja leapt backwards to of the way and Ivan landed on the ground in a crouch. He turned to look over his shoulder at Kendall. "My lady, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Kendall said. "Thanks, Ivan."

Ivan nodded back. He turned and raced towards Ninja, who suddenly split into numerous copies of himself, all moving at top speed as some raced from the cavern, the other flailing around Ivan as the gold ranger swung to attack.

Kendall turned to check on Heckyl and Snide. They continued to thrash back and forth in the water. Heckyl cupped his hands together and shot a strong blast of energy into Snide's face, sending him flying out of the water and into the air. He crashed into a wall of the cave and fell to the ground, rock crumbling around him. Heckyl swam over and pulled himself out. Gasping for air, he wiped water off his face and waited for Snide to get back up. His face screwed up in pain and his body twisted, hunching forward as if to relieve pain from his back.

The bond between the two was still much too strong.

"You're going to pay for that," Snide growled, getting to his feet. He grasped his sword. "I'm going to kill the others, and make you watch. Then I'm going to kill you."

"You'll have to kill me first," Heckyl replied. His voice was raspy, almost a whisper as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends."

"Friends?" Snide chuckled. "They'll be the first to send you down the river when they have the chance. You and I…we don't have friends." He started to glow a bright blue. "We just have each other!"

Kendall got to her feet. "That's what you think," she declared and held out her Energem. "Dino Charger, Ready! Energize! Ha! Unleash the power!" She morphed and summoned her dino saber and moved to stand next to Heckyl. "You want to destroy him then you'll have to go through me, first."

Snide didn't respond.

"Why not take out a ranger while you're at it? That's what you wanted all along, right?"

Snide tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. "I'll take you both on; it'll make no difference to me. The moment my connection with Heckyl is broken is the moment I can live in peace."

He held up his sword and charged towards Kendall and Heckyl while they charged back, immediately launching into battle with Ivan and Ninja fighting nearby.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the wait, I had most of this worked out and then the FFN alerts became an issue as I'm sure everyone knows and I held off on updating until I knew alerts would go out. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I'm glad you guys enjoy the more violent side of Snide.

 **~Avalon**


	10. Chapter 9

Thanks to **KJ Bollinger and Writing Therapist** for reviewing.

* * *

 **09**

* * *

Ivan ducked as Ninja's sword swiped towards his head. He then parried with a slash of his own sword. Back and forth they went, swords clashing against each other. In the dying light of the caverns the power of their swords hitting each other was visible. Blasts of golden energy shot out, forcing them apart as they did so.

Ivan struggled to keep his balance while Ninja continued to use it to his advantage, swinging around to slash at Ivan's open areas. Ivan cried out in pain as his leg was hit, knocking him to the ground. Ninja brought his sword high above his head to bring down on Ivan's shoulder, sneering all the while. Ivan whipped around and pulled out his Dino Blaster.

"Fire!" He shot round after round into Ninja, like a machine gun. After being struck in the center of mass the first few times, Ninja dodge-rolled behind a rock for cover. Ivan pumped the action on the Dino Blaster once. "Rapid Blast!" Larger bullets of energy shot out and struck the rock, blasting it to pieces in seconds.

"Oh no," Ninja cried. "This isn't good."

"You've got that right," Ivan agreed. He pumped the action once more. "Power Blast!"

This time a large blast of energy, the nearly doubled the size of Ninja shot out and struck him. It picked Ninja up off his feet and crashed into the rock wall behind him. The force of the hit, the energy and Ninja's form hitting the way, caused the cavern to shake. A low rumbling sound filled the area as rocks started to fall from the ceiling.

"Look out!" Kendall cried.

She and Heckyl dove out of the way of a rock falling from the ceiling, just as Snide shot forward to take them on. His sword slid through the rock like butter, cracking it in half as it fell to the ground. Kendall rolled to her knees, shaking her head. "Whoa, that was close."

"Too close," Heckyl agreed.

"I won't make that mistake again," Snide promised, straightening himself. "I won't miss."

"We'll just see about that!" Kendall declared. She held out her hand. "Plesio Pike!" Her hand glowed purple and her weapon appeared in hand; a large, purple, gray, and white sickle that held an image of the head of a Plesiosaurus. She swung it over her head and pointed it at Snide, who stopped in his tracks. "Hiya!"

"You might want to watch where you put that thing, Pretty Lady," Heckyl commented, having backed away as she spun it around. It came inches to the side of his face.

"I'll put it right through Snide's heart," Kendall declared.

Snide let out a cruel laugh. "Go ahead and try, and watch as Heckyl dies in the process!"

Heckyl held up his hands, orbs of blue energy encircling them. "I'm willing to take that risk!" He looked at Kendall and nodded, she nodded back and the two charged towards Snide. Snide snarled and charged back at him. The three became locked in battle, almost like a choreographed dance as they lunged and charged towards each other. Snide let out grunts of frustration and effort as he took on both Kendall and Heckyl.

Every few seconds the ground around them continued to crackle and rumble, sending rocks from overhead to the ground below, making the ground shake even further. Others fell into the water behind them, giving an almighty splash. Kendall struggled to keep her balance as the ground shook beneath her feet. But with the extended reach of her Plesio Pike she was able to hold Snide's sword off. It gave Heckyl the advantage to send energy blasts into Snide's side, knocking him backwards.

On and on the fight went.

And as the seconds passed Snide continued to get more and more agitated until he let out a scream of fury after knocking Kendall and Heckyl back once more. He mimicked Heckyl's motions and shot blasts of energy back to them. Heckyl ducked out of the way, rolling behind another rock at the same moment Snide attacked. The rock blasted apart, sending fragments in all directions. Heckyl dove to the ground, holding his arms over his head to shield himself. Ivan was struck in the back by a rock, giving Ninja an ample opportunity to strike him in the chest with a ninja star, knocking him over.

Kendall fared worse as a piece of rock rocketed out and struck her in the face. Her head whipped to the side and her eyes closed against the sounds of her helmet cracking. The force of the blow knocked her to the ground. Kendall reached up a gloved hand to touch her helmet, finding the tips of the gloves catching on the jagged edges of her cracked visor. Her eyes stung, something must've gotten into them; dust maybe or even shards of her visor.

Still, Kendall pushed herself back to her feet.

Snide slowly swung his sword. "I have to admit ranger, I'm impressed that you'll stand up to me like this." He pointed his sword to Heckyl. "All to protect him. You must care more than I thought."

Kendall glanced over at Heckyl, who slowly rose himself out from behind the rock. He moved slowly, carefully out of Snide's view, hugging the ground. Moving as silently as he could. She felt something in her heart stir, there were enough times for him to turn on her and the other rangers and he hadn't done it once. He kept his promise every time, that he wasn't the same as Snide, that he wanted to change. _He's proved it every time,_ Kendall thought. Shame hit her; she was so used to doing things a certain way, making sure it was done right. And what had it done over her life?

She had no relationship with her parents because she wanted to avoid their arguments. Thinking her good grades and academic achievements, doing everything perfectly would take their mind off of their anger and hatred towards each other. She became the manager of the museum and expeditions and made sure things went well, alienating those around her. She avoided Shelby time and time again, telling her at the beginning that she didn't believe she could help her, told Chase that he was a skirt chasing womanizer who needed to focus more, tried to make Koda act more like an 'upstanding citizen' rather than a caveman, told Riley that his smarts could come across as condescending at the worst times, got tired of Ivan's outdated and regal attitude towards woman, and felt that Tyler couldn't be a good leader because of his moments of immaturity.

Things she had said out loud and things she regretted shortly after doing so. That was before knowing how to work on a team, before understanding what it was to rely on so many people, not only for her safety, but the safety of the city and the planet. Over time she thought she had outgrown that but now…she knew she had done the same to Heckyl if not worse.

Kendall tightened her grasp on her Plesio Pike. "You have no idea," she said in a low voice. "You're not going to hurt my friends." With that she charged again, becoming strongly engrossed with her battle with Snide. She used every ounce of her power, her anger, her frustration against him.

And it worked.

She got solid hits against him, making him stumble back, opening himself for her to continue to strike him. Sparks continued to flow off his body with each hit, a signifier that he was starting to lose energy. In the back of her mind, Kendall looked at it like one of the video games that Tyler liked to play, an energy bar of the opponent slowly dwindling down.

Kendall flipped backwards out of the way of a sword hit and crouched low searching for a new opening. Snide was starting to understand her tactics and reacted accordingly. There wasn't much longer she could handle on her own but it looked like Ivan was still so busy with Ninja and Heckyl was in the middle of his own plan of attack. He scaled the wall behind Snide, stopping on a ledge to overlook them. He looked down at Kendall, locking eyes with her and nodded. Kendall nodded back imperceptibly.

She returned her gaze to Snide and smirked. "Is that all you got?" She asked.

"Actually, I'm just getting started!"

At that exact moment, Heckyl leapt down from the rock ledge, to land on Snide's back. Everything happened at once. Snide lashed out his hands, which created blue bursts of energy again, but this time they resembled long whips. He turned around and wrapped a whip around Heckyl's neck, flinging him to the ground. He hit hard with a grunt. Snide then turned and wrapped the other whip around Kendall's neck. He reeled them in, pulling them towards him. Snide let out a slow, malicious laugh, almost a grating laugh.

Kendall brought her hands up, struggling to released her neck. She was already gasping for air.

"You. Lose," Snide growled.

Kendall gasped in surprised as she suddenly felt herself being lifted higher in the air. Then she was falling and landed in the water with an almighty splash. "No!" Ivan cried. He continued to struggle against Ninja's attacks. "Hang on Ms. Morgan!"

Snide pushed Kendall further underwater. The water started to weigh down her suit, filling her shoes, her gloves, and the hole in her helmet. Water rushed around her everywhere and Kendall, managed to suck in a breath before hitting the water, could only watch helplessly as she was submerged.

* * *

Chase, Riley, and Koda continued to walk through the empty caverns. If they came to a dead end they would double back and got the other way. They had been walking for about twenty minutes when there was a large explosion that rocked the cavers. The three huddled low to the ground as the ground shook, rocks falling from the ceiling. There was a moment of silence before there as another explosion.

The light flickered around them as Koda struggled to keep himself upright, holding the torch out to keep from dropping it. There was another explosion, this time a smaller one. Chase pressed himself against the wall and waited for the shaking to stop. When it finally did, he slowly pushed himself forward, looking around. The way they had came was now impassable due to the rocks that had fallen behind them. That had to be the sound they heard before, but it didn't explain the second explosion.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked, finding his voice. Koda nodded. Chase reached over and grasped Riley's shoulder. "Mate, are you alright?" Riley, who was gasping for air, trying to steady himself, nodded silently. "Good. Koda, may I see the torch?"

Koda handed it over to him and Chase climbed up a small rock face, holding the torch high above his head. Yes, their last way was completely blocked. They had to keep moving forward. Chase turned back to his friends and jumped down from the rock. "Come on, we have to keep going forward."

"Wait," Riley said.

Koda blinked at him. "Wait…for what?" He asked curiously.

Riley brought a finger to his lips. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what, mate?"

"That."

Chase listened hard. For a moment all he could hear was the sound of water droplets dripping somewhere around them. The same he had heard since they awakened in the cave in the first place. Chase started to say something about it then stopped. No. There was something else, a deeper, low roaring sound that came their way. Chase closed his eyes and listened as hard as he could. It steadily continued to grow in pitch as the seconds passed, thundering on them.

Riley's eyes widened. "Run!" He shouted. "RUN!"

Chase leapt off the rock wall and sprinted after Riley, pumping his arms and legs as fast as he could. Koda hesitated for a second, watching the two. "Koda, run!" Chase shouted. Then Koda was running after them, a few seconds slower. The three boys continued to run as fast and hard as they could, the sound of the rumbling continuing to grow louder, louder, louder. Then it happened. There was a large explosion behind them, sending the rocks that had been covering their path in all directions, followed by a strong, hot wind.

Chase felt little rocks started to strike his back, arms, and legs, and ducked, continuing to run. He saw Riley fall and reached over his arm, practically dragging him along as they continued to go. Once bringing Riley back to his feet, Chase looked over his shoulder once more and saw Koda wasn't running as fast.

"Koda!"

Koda pulled his Energem from around is neck, holding it tightly in his hand. "Unleash the power!" He called. He morphed into his ranger suit and quickly held up his hand, continuing to run. "Stego Shield! Maximize!" Stego Shield in hand, Koda whipped back towards the rocks that continued to fly their way and held up his enlarged shield, crouching down behind it.

The sound of rocks hitting the metal were like gunshots and Chase fell to the ground, holding his hands over his ears. Riley crouched down next to him, doing the same. The thumps and bangs of the rocks hitting the shield became louder and louder as the wind whizzed by them. Finally, it stopped.

Chase slowly lifted himself up off the ground and looked over at Koda, who calmly lowered his Stego Shield from in front of him. He waved his hand, the shield disappearing in a flash of light and turned back to his friends.

Riley made a low scoffing sound, shaking his head as he realized what happened. He got up on his knees and turned back to Koda. "You're a wild man, Koda," he said.

Koda tilted his head. "I'm a caveman," he replied.

Riley and Chase laughed, their voices echoing along the walls of the caves around them. "You did good, mate," Chase said. He stood up and groaned, dropping down to his knees once more. He looked down, finding a gash in his leg, blood dripping down to stain his socks. "Argh. Nice thinking, Koda."

"Chase, you hurt," Koda said. He hurried over to his friend and knelt down at his side, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm okay," Chase said. "I've been hurt worse when skateboarding."

"That doesn't look too good, Chase," Riley said. "We need to get you out of here soon. There's a plethora of things that can happen." He looked at his Dino Com again. "Still no signal from the others. We'll have to keep going." He ducked his head under Chase's arm and helped him up. Koda did the same to his other side and the three continued to slowly move along the path.

Shelby, Tyler, and James weren't as lucky with the explosion that sounded around them. The initial blast blocked off the area in front of them, the small space they had to move forward, blocking them in. And as the rocks rained down around them, they had to press themselves hard against the wall to keep themselves from getting hit. But the rocks continued to rain down.

"We have to do something!" James called.

"But you said we can't break through a wall," Tyler replied. He coughed, dust settling in his lungs.

"We'll have to think of something else." Shelby pulled her Dino Blaster out and started to fire at the rocks that fell from the ceiling.

"Good thinking, Shelby!" James said. He and Tyler pulled out their blasters and started to figure at the rocks that fell down around them. Until there was an even louder cracking. Shelby looked up in time to find a large boulder falling towards them.

"Look out!" She shrieked and grabbed Tyler's arm, tackling him out of the way. She wrapped her arms around them and held him close to her body as they fell to the side, out of the way of the boulder. They hit the ground hard, and Shelby leaned over him to protect themselves. Finally, the shaking stopped and rocks stopped falling from above. Choking, Shelby pushed herself back onto her heels. She brushed her hair form her face and looked down at Tyler, finding him groaning lightly. "Tyler? Tyler? Are you okay?"

He slowly nodded, making her let out a huge sigh of relief. "You…" he gasped. "You can really tackle."

Shelby chuckled. "Well, I'll do anything to make sure you're okay." She felt herself blush at her admission. "I mean, for everyone but—"

"It's okay." Tyler reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. He blinked slowly, eyes locking with hers. She smiled to herself, seeing something in them that she hadn't seen before, that she had only hoped to see. "I know what you mean."

"I'm glad you're okay, Tyler," James said from the other side of the cave. "Look." Shelby looked up and saw a hole in the wall of the cavern they were in. She helped Tyler to her feet, still holding his hand, and the two peered through.

"There's Snide," Tyler said, recognizing his silhouette as he was locked in battle with Heckyl.

"And Ivan and Ninja," Shelby said. She looked back and forth, heart cramming into her throat. "Where's Ms. Morgan?" Then her gaze landed on Snide's whip that extended to the water, seeing bubbles rising to the surface and the water splashing around. "No!"

"Ms. Morgan!" Tyler frantically shouted.

Their shouts grabbed Heckyl's attention. Giving Snide and opening to utterly thrash him. Heckyl cried out in pain as punched after punch rained down on his body before he was knocked backwards. Heckyl rolled across the ground, landing close to the rangers trapped behind the wall. He glanced at them before lifting his hands and using an energy blast to hold Snide off from delivering the final blow.

The two quaked as they tried to overpower each other. Heckyl sucked in gasps of air, willing himself to keep going as his arms slowly gave out, lowering Snide's sword to his face. James growled to himself. He reached up and pulled his Energem from his pocket. It glowed in his hand.

Shelby looked over at him.

James looked back at her, and she could see the torn expression in his face, in his eyes.

"What are you-?" she started.

James thrust his hand out through the hole that was made, pushing the gem towards Heckyl. Snide didn't noticed, too preoccupied with his coming victory over his other half. "Take it!" James shouted. He stretched his hand out through the hole as fast as he could. "Heckyl, take the gem!"

"Dad!" Tyler shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Heckyl!"

Heckyl spun to the side, Snide's word crashing down where he had just been. On his rotation he swiped the gem from James's hand. A bright blue escaped from between Heckyl's fingers. He gaped in surprise.

"What's going on?!" Snide shouted. He brought up his arm and backed away from his other half. "What's happening?!"

Heckyl turned his hand over and opened it. The Aqua Blue Energem continued to glow in his hand, brighter and brighter as the seconds passed. So bright that every corner of the darkened cave was illuminated in absolute light. There was a single blast of light so bright even Heckyl had to close his eyes and bring his arm up over his face.

When the light faded Heckyl was just as surprised as the others to have morphed into the Aqua Dino Charge Ranger.

* * *

 **A/N:** Lost motivation for a bit there, but now I've got it back. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Not much left of the story.

 **~Avalon**


	11. Chapter 10

Thanks to **KJ Bollinger, Writing Therapist, ZRyder, and Sir Perfluous** for reviewing.

* * *

 **10**

* * *

"No way," Tyler breathed.

He exchanged a glance with Shelby, her expression of surprise mimicking his exactly. Then they turned their attention back to what was unfolding in front of them. Heckyl, now morphed into the Aqua Ranger, brought his gloved hands up towards his face in awe. He turned them back and forth the nodded, shifting his attention back to Snide, who regarded him with stunned silence.

Then everything around Snide darkened, his yellow eyes turning red almost immediately."If I had known you were a ranger," he growled, chest heaving. "I would have killed you ages ago." He lifted his sword and pointed it directly towards Heckyl's chest. "No matter what would've happened to me."

Heckyl lowered himself into a crouch, almost as if the suit itself encoded in his DNA how to fight. He could feel the surge of power move through his veins, giving him much more confidence than he had ever felt before.

He could beat Snide.

He knew he could.

"He morphed into the Aqua Ranger," Shelby said. She then looked at James, who watched with rapt attention. "But…what about James? The Energem bonded to him…?" As if suddenly realizing that point, Tyler whipped his head toward his father, eyebrows coming together in concern.

"I'll be fine," James said composure intact.

Ivan and Ninja forced each other backwards with strong hits of their swords then looked over to the source of bright light that had emanated from Snide's and Heckyl's direction. "Unreal," Ivan said. Then he turned his head, suddenly remembering that Kendall was missing.

"This will just make your death that much better for me," Snide declared. He held his sword high overhead and raced towards Heckyl. Heckyl charged back towards him and the two quickly became locked in battle.

* * *

Kendall's lungs burned.

She could feel her strength starting to giveaway. She couldn't hold her breath much longer. Her mind, which had been screaming in terror was now eerily quiet, calm and read for what was about to happen. Snide's hold around her neck was tight, tighter by the second. The energy he continued to exhibit despite not being close to her proved how strong he and Heckyl were. He had stayed behind the scenes for so long, despite all of the monsters he'd sent out. Heckyl, on the other hand, they had come across time and time again and he had been strong all on his own.

Her legs gently swished through the water, her hands falling away from her neck. The edges of her vision were darkening even further as her eyes turned into tunnel vision. She couldn't believe of all of the times she had been a ranger and faced off against other monsters this was the one thing that was going to take her down.

Drowning in an underground cave where she didn't know if her friends were okay or dead or...

No.

No, that's not how she was going to go out.

She was stronger than that. She stowed away on Sledge's ship to save Keeper, retrieving her ability to morph into the Purple Dino Charge ranger all by herself. If she could do that…she could do this, too. Kendall started to glow purple, the energy forming a protective bubble around her. Just in time, as the top of it enclosed her lungs gave way and she sucked in a harsh breath of air. Water poured out of her helmet and suit, falling to the bottom of the protective bubble, and she coughed, sucking in as much air as she could, catching her breath.

There bubble sank to the bottom of the river, settling down amongst the rocks. Water swirled around her and Kendall looked up towards the shimmering surface. She could see the distant shapes of Ivan, Ninja, Snide and…James fighting against each other. If James was there, what happened to Heckyl? Kendall clenched her hands into fists and stood up, with a push off from the bottom, she started to rise to the surface of the river.

Ivan was starting to lose to Ninja. With the monster's speed, he continued to turn into bright flashes of light, the only visible part of his rapid movements. Sword slashes rocked Ivan back and forth as he cried out in pain before a cruel blow to his stomach felled him to his knees. When Ivan hit the ground, he lost his grip on his sword, it skittering away from him. He was getting tired, but not tired enough to de-morph. There was still enough fight in him to keep going.

He had to.

"Ivan! Hang on!" Shelby shouted, her voice barely making it through the small hole in the cavern wall that James passed his Energem through. She looked over it before taking a step back. "We have to get in there and help them!"

"If you blast through this wall," James warned her.

"She's right, dad," Tyler interrupted. "We can't just sit here and watch our friends get hurt…or die. They need our help and without Koda, Chase, and Riley…they can't wait much longer." He looked around for a minute, surveying the wall. Then he nodded to Shelby. "I'll take down the wall; you use your Tricera Drill and blast apart any falling rocks."

Shelby nodded back. "You got it!"

Tyler finally let go of her hand and the two pulled out their Energems, pushing the buttons on the top. They instantly morphed into the Red and Pink Dino Charge rangers. "Dino Steel! Armor On!" Their suits shone as they received the extra protective layer over them. "Power Rangers, Dino Super Charge!"

"T-Rex Smasher!"

"Tricera Drill!"

Tyler pulled back his fist where his T-Rex Smasher took on a bright red hue. "T-Rex Smash!" With the charged up energy she punched forward as hard as he could and the wall crumbled to pieces. Rocks and boulders started to fall down around them. "Your turn, Shelby!"

"Right!" Shelby crossed her arms over top of each other and grabbed onto the handle of her weapon. "Tricera Drill! Rapid Spin!" Shelby spun along with her drill, shooting forward to blast through the falling rocks around them. James ducked out of the way and Tyler hurried to his side, using his T-Rex Smasher to blast away pieces of rock that managed to pass by Shelby. Finally, the wall had fallen down and the rumbling stopped. Shelby and Tyler hurried forward through the hole that now allowed them to past through to their friends.

"It's…about time, Sir Tyler," Ivan said, struggling to his knees. "I thought you'd never make it."

"Never say never, Ivan," Tyler said. He and Shelby turned their attention toward Ninja. "Get ready to be Tyrannosaurus _Wrecked!"_

 _"_ We'll just see about that!" Ninja declared. Tyler and Shelby held up their weapons and charged towards Ninja, giving Ivan space to regain his energy. He looked over, holding up his arm over his face when there was a bright blastoff purple light that came shooting out of the water; helmet fully intact and suit dry. "Lady Morgan!"

"Plesio Pike!" Kendall pulled back her arm and threw it as hard as she could. The sickle shot through the air and struck Ninja in the back as he turned to launch himself off the wall to dart back towards the rangers. The blade of the weapon became embedded in his back and he screamed out in pain, falling to his knees. Just in time for Tyler and Shelby to get their attacks in.

James hurried over and grabbed onto Ivan's arm, helping him up. "Ivan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ivan said. He nodded to Kendall. "I think you should be asking her."

"I'm fine, too," Kendall said. Then the two turned their attention to James, as if noticing him for the first time. "Wait, if you're here then who's…" her voice trailed off as she and Ivan turned to watch Heckyl and the Aqua Ranger. They were locked in a vicious battle, their cruel slashes and devastating blows evident of the struggle of power over each other. Each time a crucial hit was landed on one, the two would both recoil in pain, their strong link continuing to bind them together.

"Ranger powers or not, you're no match to take me down!" Snide declared.

"If the thought makes you feel better," Heckyl replied. He pulled out James's Dino Morpher and reshaped it into a blaster. "Dino Morpher Blast!" He shot the bullets of energy out into Snide. Each of the blasts crashed into his front, bouncing off, almost as if there was a protective plate around him. "Dino Saber!" Next he summoned the sword and ran his hand over it, making the blast glow with the blue energy that he and Snide shared. "Dino Saber Slash!" He leapt high and swung the sword down to Snide's front.

Snide turned and swung out with his sword at the same time, each slashing each other on the side openly. Heckyl and Snide both fell to their knees, their backs to each other. They breathed heavily, trying to move through the pain they had inflicted on each other. Then Heckyl de-morphed, the Aqua Energem levitating and immediately shooting back over to James, who caught it in his hand. Without the extra ranger energy, Heckyl felt drained, in pain…and on the verge of passing out.

He pressed his hand to his side and removed it, seeing blood stain his palm. It rolled to his fingertips then dripped to the dusty floor of the cavern. Heckyl turned his head and found Snide in a similar position, swaying as he tried to keep himself upright. Snide glared over his shoulder at Heckyl, if possible, his red eyes turning even redder with fury.

Sucking in a deep breath, Heckyl turned and started to rise to his feet. He stumbled, falling back to his knees. Then a hand was on his arm and he found Kendall kneeling next to him. "Heckyl, don't push yourself," She said.

"I have to stop him," Heckyl replied. He glared at Snide with nothing short of utter disgust and fury. "I can't let him hurt anyone else."

"But you'll be killed in the process!"

"I don't care."

"Tyler, Shelby!" Above them, Koda, Chase, and Riley, all morphed appeared on a rock ledge. They jumped down at the same time, landing on the ground in a low crouch, hurrying over to their friends. "We found a way out."

"It's not too far from here," Riley added on Chase's exclamation. He nodded toward Koda. "He had to blast through a few walls but I think it's safe to hold up for us to get out."

"Once we get rid of these guys," Tyler said, standing tall against Ninja.

"Only if you're fast enough!" He declared.

"With all of us here, we're plenty fast. Together, nothing can stop us." He, Shelby, Koda, Chase, and Riley all lined up with each other. "Dinosaur might, ready to fight! Power Rangers, Dino Super Charge!" He held up his weapon. "T-Rex Smasher!"

"Para Chopper!" Chase said, calling at the same time as Tyler, "Combine! T-Rex Chopper!"

"Weapons combine!" Koda, Shelby, and Riley called in unison, combining their weapons. "Triple Spike!"

"Dino Pierce!"

"Double Blast!"

"Lightning Final Strike!" Ivan added, swinging his sword as he did so.

The blasts shot out of the two weapons and struck Ninja head on, making him fall onto his back, arms and legs flailing. "No!"

"Dino Charger, ready! Weapons Combine!" The five weapons then combined together with Chase, Koda, Riley, and Shelby all standing together. Tyler raced forward and leapt onto their arms as they threw him into the air. "Red ranger, launch!"

Tyler swung their weapons together. "Dino Spike, Final Strike!"

"Not so fast!" Snide stood up and glowed a brilliant blue. He brought his arms to his chest and then released it, emanating a bright blue power surge that blasted through the cavern. Heckyl and the rangers were lifted off their feet from the blow and sent flying through the air, crashing into the walls around them.

They fell to the ground in a heap and de-morphed while Ninja stood up, unharmed.

"I never thought this day would come," Snide said, slowly walking towards everyone. "The day that I'd finally destroy the rangers and take over the world! And without my useless other half!" He turned towards Heckyl, who lay on the ground, struggling to get to his feet. "I'll have the pleasure of getting rid of you, first!"

Heckyl got to his knees, throwing out his arm to cover Kendall, who got to her knees next to him. "That's…the last time you're going to hurt my friends. Destroy me now…without me you'll cease to live."

Snide sent forward a bolt of blue energy, the biggest blast he had ever mustered. Heckyl held up his hands and did the same, using the last of his energy to do so. The bright lights combined and there was a pulse of power. But this time, Heckyl felt the power move through his body, making him strong again. The cavern became illuminated in a blue-white glow, everything around Snide and Heckyl moving in slow motion while they were able to move freely.

The wave of energy allowed the ceiling to slowly crack open, this time revealing a dark, navy blow color. It became brighter and brighter, until the small light slowly lowered itself down from the ceiling towards Heckyl. Snide reached out his hand. "No!" He shouted.

The light landed in Heckyl's upraised palm and he grabbed onto it. It steadily increased in brightness before the color covered his body. When it faded, a blaster rested in Heckyl's hand. Looking it over, Heckyl pushed the Navy Energem into the mouth of the blaster. It pulsed in his hand.

"I think you're going to want to change your tune, Snide," Heckyl said. "Or else you'll face the consequences." He spun the side of the blaster. "Energize, ha! Unleash the Power!" He morphed in the Talon Ranger; navy blue suit combined with crimson and gold accents. "Spinosaurus! Power Ranger Talon!"

The white-blue light faded along the cavern, allowing everyone else to being moving again. "Another ranger," Riley gasped. He shook his head. "I thought there was only supposed to be ten."

"I can't believe it," Kendall murmured. She shook her head, lowering her gaze to the dusty floor of the cavern. "There's only supposed to be ten; red, blue, black, green, pink, purple, aqua, gold, graphite, silver. But this…this is a new power."

Heckyl lowered his hands to his side. "I think that's something you need to figure out later, Pretty Lady. Right now we have to focus on getting out of here."

"I won't let you pass!" Snide growled.

"Then I'll just have to make you move!" Heckyl brought up his hand. "Talon Tenor!" His weapon, a dagger that appeared similar to that of a flue appeared in his hand. He brought it up to his mouth and blew into it, the weapon emanating a high-pitched squeal, making Ninja and Snide groan, slapping their hands over their ears. "If you liked that performance, you should see my final act! Spino-Boomerang!" He pulled the Talon Tenor apart until it formed the shape of an open dinosaur mouth, also resembling a boomerang. _Final strike!_ "

He swung the Spino-Boomerang, the bright blast of navy blue energy flying out and striking both Ninja and Snide. Ninja was destroyed the moment the blast hit him, but Snide was struck hard and sent flying back into the wall of the cave, further and further, drilling an imprint as he went until he was out of sight.

Heckyl's eyes narrowed as he stared at the print that had been left. Snide wasn't defeated, that much he knew or else he would've felt a decrease in energy, anything that would signify the severance of their life-force with each other. But he felt nothing.

Snide was still out there and he would be ready when it was time for him to come back.

* * *

The rangers watched as Heckyl lifted his Energem and let go. The gem zoomed across the floor of their basement lab and hovered in the Energem case along with the others. Heckyl smiled a little as he looked at them. It wasn't so long ago he thought he wouldn't be able to convince the others he was a good guy and now he was part of the team.

 _If they'll have me,_ he reminded himself.

With that thought, Heckyl turned to face the others. All of them appeared as tired as he did, the trek out of the cavern taking more out of them than originally thought, not to mention the injuries they then had to bandage and medicate once they de-powered. Morphing into a ranger was enough to take on the intense discomfort the felt when unmorphed but when the adrenaline of a battle wore off…it was easy to be knocked silly. Fortunately, no one had been injured more than sprains, bruises, and slight concussions.

Without Snide out of commission it looked like they'd have enough time to heal before going to fight all over again.

Keeper slowly walked towards Heckyl, raising his staff as he did so. "It is a surprise to me that another Energem has been found, but I am not surprised it has chosen you to bond to." He looked over the rows of colorful gems at the corner of the lab. "These Energems can sense goodness in those that are near it, despite our initial misgivings due to your allegiance with Snide, from your encounter with the Dark Energem, it appears you're to join our team and help save Earth."

Heckyl nodded, looking down at his hands. "I can still feel the way the Dark Energem coursed through my veins, how long it took for me to understand that the horrific things I had been doing…I felt nothing but shame when I found out and vowed I would take down Snide whatever it took."

"Yeah, but now you're linked to him," Shelby pointed out. "If something hurts him, it hurts you."

"A side effect of Snide's life force being drawn from the Dark Energem, I'm afraid," Keeper said.

"So we destroy the Dark Energem to break the link?" Riley asked.

"Or that could destroy Heckyl as well," Chase pointed out.

Tyler shook his head. "It doesn't look like we have a lot of choice on this one."

"I don't want to endanger the rest of you anymore," Heckyl said. "I'll go find Snide myself and…and take him down."

The rangers all exchanged glances. They knew a suicide mission when they heard one. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, my good sir," Ivan said. He clasped his hands behind his back. "Now when you have a team behind you at every turn."

"Yeah, Snide's not just your enemy," Shelby said. She poked herself in the chest. "He's ours, too. He's hurt a lot of people that we know and love and we won't let him get away with it."

"So…" Koda's eyes widened. "Heckyl, stay?"

"Yes," Kendall agreed, speaking up for the first time since they had gotten back. "Heckyl stays." She looked at him, their eyes locking. "If that's what he wants." Heckyl started to smile at her but she turned and pointedly nodded to James. "If that's what _they_ want."

Tyler looked at his father expectantly. James smiled back at him; he reached out his hand and placed it on Tyler's shoulder. "I've been gone for ten years," he said solemnly. "I'm not going to be gone for ten more." Tyler grinned and hugged his father tightly.

Heckyl nodded. He didn't truly know what it was like to have a family in a long time, his entire planet having been destroyed ages ago. But if this was what a family really was like, at least he was getting an idea of what it truly meant.

Kendall glanced at Heckyl over her shoulder and gave a soft smile.

Heckyl smiled back.

At least he had a little incentive.

* * *

 **TH END**

* * *

 **A/N:** So, to anyone confused; Heckyl was able to morph into the Aqua Ranger due to a dire situation, but he truly is the Navy/Talon ranger, hence why the Navy Energem came to him. And now he's a ranger along with the others.

I actually intended this story to end with 12 chapters, (11 with an epilogue) but this one ended up going through what I had planned a bit faster, so I hope it wasn't too abrupt of an end for you all. I plan to do one more story after this one, to show his life along with the rangers while being a ranger (and of course his relationship with Kendall), at least I have one planned out. It'll take some time before it's posted.

Thank you so much for everyone who favorited, reviewed, and alerted the story. I never intended them to be so short but since this one and the last one were based off of episodes, the next one will be longer as it won't be so based in them.

 **~Avalon**


End file.
